Rose dyed blood red
by MrYaksup
Summary: A servant no one knows much about has a strange connection to the queen, which here means "You will loose your head if you get too involved with him". A young girl from another time meets him with the mission to change his future, managing to get involved in a world of murder, kidnappings, and revolutions. She truly wants to know; what is he hiding behind that sweet smile?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! First of all, I want to thank the people that reviewed, followed, and Favorited the fist chapter of my other story... That was really fast! S****o, one of you said that you were interested in seeing this one, and I am happy to oblige. I ended up finishing re-writing this chapter today, I was so happy. **

**Anyway, I'm going to say something right now; Elisa is a lovesick dummy. Oh, and Yakko is his usual pervy self, but rest assured, he's only interested in her because he needs help with something, so no, this isn't a romantic flick between him and an OC. Also, sorry if this chapter is a bit short, the rest are a bit longer than this. **

**Anyway, onto the story! **

* * *

Darkness. This was the only thing I could distinguish in my unconscious state, a blotch of never ending blackness. I understood the reason for this the moment I realized I was awake, I was 'sleeping', lying down with my eyes closed, naturally. Something I also understood was that all I had to do to escape this darkness, was open my eyes.

But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was frightened, terrified even, of the date I had been sent to this time around. I was scared of many things, and one of them was the fact that I was currently being forced to travel time and cosmos to change certain events in history. I had hoped to escape from it eventually, but obviously, I couldn't escape from time itself, so I was simply relying on the words of a 'God', so to speak. I wanted to continue sleeping forever, at least like this, I wouldn't have to strain myself anymore...

However, I could hear something in my subconscious, a very weak voice that told me it was my duty to wake up. If I didn't, then who would save all those innocent people in trouble all across time?

_- I'm a 14 year old girl, what do you expect me to do? -_ I thought angrily at the voice _- I'm weak and... useless... I don't belong in this type of situation -_

"But you must" said the voice, whispering in an enchanting tone "You must wake up and save 'him', for he has a future that you have to bring him."

I sighed, and thought of things to shoo the idea off my head, but all the images that came to mind where those of my family, my friends and my parents. I almost teared up in the darkness because of this, thinking that they were the only reason I was still doing this. I wanted to see them again, to tell them just how much they meant to me...

And to see them again I had to finish my job.

I opened my eyes reluctantly, and the moment my eyelids gave way to my retinas, my pupils shrunk at the sudden burst of light coming from the open window. They closed immediately at the light intrusion, and I rubbed them to get the sleep out of my eyes before I sat up on the white-sheeted bed.

"Where am I...?" I wondered sleepily to no one in particular as I glanced around the room. As usual, I had never seen it before. The walls were a light grey and the only pieces of furniture I could see where a small wardrobe, a desk, and the bed I was currently sitting on. As I was slightly groggy from sleeping, I walked to the bathroom, finding a bucket with water there. After washing my face and drying the droplets of water still on my skin, I stared at my reflection and gasped.

I wasn't human anymore.

Two rabbit-like ears hung from my head, red nose twitching in surprise from my white muzzle. I saw my red hair swish sround my shoulders as my blue eyes took in the sight of my new image, wide open in surprise. I walked backwards slightly and almost stumbled, but caught myself before I could fall down on my back and continued blinking as I tried to process my new appearance.

_- Maybe there will be more creatures like me out there...? -_ I wondered as I looked wearily at the door to my room.

Deciding that just staying there wasn't going to give me any answers, I stood up and opened the oak door. Good thing that I was already dressed in work clothes, or I would have gotten out in my pajamas.

_- How embarrassing would that have been? Then again, I still do look pretty silly in this form -_ I thought as I chuckled at the sheer ridiculousness of my 'new look'.

On the other side of the door was a corridor with white walls, which had red pennants with golden edges on them. They had a big golden symbol in the middle, one that reminded me of castles, and I wondered if the symbol of a dragon spitting fire meant anything. The hallway was all white walls and some doors for a long way; I couldn't see the other side from here. By the looks of the place, I had to guess that I had appeared in a wealthy environment.

I was quite disoriented, considering this was my first time here, so I looked around for something to tell me in what time and place I was, but as I walked, I noticed it was almost never ending. At least that was what it looked like to me.

Desperate to find the end of the corridor, I started running, but, being the clumsy girl I knew I was, I crashed into something.

When I noticed I was currently lying flat on my back against the floor, I heard a small curious hum, before a young, male voice resounded from above me "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there..." Suddenly, the face of, apparently, said boy was looking at me so that he looked upside down to me, standing right opposite my head. He smiled and his face moved slightly to the left, making his black ears flop a bit.

Surprised, I sat up quickly and turned my back so that I was facing the boy, frowning when he chuckled and extended his white gloved hand to me, hoping I would take it and get up. I did, and with minimum difficulty, I was able to stand up.

The mysterious boy looked at me with an air of curiosity about him as he circled me for a moment, like he was inspecting me thoroughly.

"Um... Hi?" I said, a bit uncomfortable at the attention from the boy who looked to be of my same species; currently, at least.

He smiled again as he stopped circling right in front of me, his red nose twitching in his white chalk face. His dark black eyes moved about as his white pupils inspected my face for a hint of a smile too, and they lit up when my mouth moved upward slightly.

"Are you new here? I've never seen you around before" he said. His voice was a bit high for a boy, but not enough for it to be considered girlish, and I kind of liked the tone, it made him seem gentle and cute. Hey, don't you dare judge me; I'm attracted to cute, fluffy things, okay? And he looked to be my age...

"Y-Yeah... I barely even know where I am..." I replied, suppressing a laugh at the surprised look on his face. However, the moment I said that I regretted it. I had to make myself a cover so that I could stay here without being suspected. "What I mean is, my mother got me working here, but I don't know anything about it, or what I'm supposed to do, so..." I hoped that was enough of an explanation for the adolescent, because I didn't feel like lying to him more than that. Besides, I just had a feeling he was the one the 'voice' had been talking about.

He nodded, as if accepting my answer, and gently took my hand... before he took out running with me directly behind him.

"H-Hey! Where are we going?!" I yelled, displeasingly surprised and trying to keep up with his fast feet. He was incredibly fast! What, did he have the speed of a cheetah or something?

He completely ignored my question, because he suddenly asked "What is your name?"

"My… name?" I replied in surprise. I supposed I could give it to him, but why the sudden change in subject? "I'm Elisa... Elisa Simons" I said, and then I stopped running, to which he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me fully "And what's your name?"

He smirked slyly at me and I almost laughed out loud at his 'flirty' look, before he said "Well, my name isn't nearly as cute as yours buuuuut..." he smiled, getting out of his facade "I'm Yakko. It's nice to meet you"

"Quite the charmer, I see" I said with a smirk, and he simply said "Obviously" to which I laughed. However, I had to disagree with him; I thought his name was much cuter than mine, and much more unusual too.

I was about to say something else when I realized he hadn't given me his last name. Not that I needed it, but I was curious "Wait, what's your surname?"

Immediately, almost like reading his lines on a piece of paper, he responded "I have no last name." His smile was gone and the eerie atmosphere almost made me shudder, but a second later he was smiling again, acting like nothing had happened "Weird, isn't it? It's not important, though."

I nodded and smiled slightly at him, thinking of something to clear the awkwardness "So, um, Yakko... Like I said before, I don't know what I have to work with and other things... Could you direct me to someone who can help me?" 'Unless you can, of course', I failed to add.

As if he had been reading my mind, he smirked and puffed his chest, acting proud "I can tell you anything you need to know! Like the fact that this is the Queen's palace! I can give you more information... for a price, that is..." he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

I laughed and punched him lightly on the upper arm "No way, pervert. I'll find someone else to help me" I said in mock anger as I walked slowly away.

Like I expected, he walked right in front of me to stop me, laughing too "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Just this once, I'll give you a special discount" At my narrowed eyes he corrected himself "Eeeeeeeeeh- free. How about that?"

I nodded, satisfied, and he opened a door right next to him "Okay, then, I'll start with the tour now" he laughed "You see, this is the-"

"YAKKO! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

The voice had boomed through the whole palace - or castle, as I liked to call it - and it almost blew us backwards with the sheer intensity of it. To my surprise, the boy looked down to the floor, an irritated frown on his face and mumbling something angrily, before he looked back at me with an apologetic smile "Sorry, I have to go or she'll... Well, it's better if you don't know" he finished, running forward and shouting back before he rounded a corner "I'll give you that tour later! Don't look for any other good-looking guys!"

I laughed as he ran out of my sight, waving until I couldn't see him anymore. I found it curious that someone would scream like that to such a nice boy... Well, he was a pervert, and would no doubt annoy the hell out of several people, but I thought he was nice enough.

_- You're thinking about him too much, Elisa -_ I thought with a sigh as I entered through the door he had opened. It looked like the kitchen _- Relax, you've just met him. You'll have plenty of time to figure out what role he plays -_

Like I had expected, the room I entered had small stations all around it, several pots, tables and utensils all around. I looked around to see several people staring at me with curious looks, most likely having heard the scream, and all I could do was laugh awkwardly and wave.

"Uh, hi... I was just leaving..." With long strides, I walked toward a door in the back of the room, opening it and slipping through without bothering to check where it would lead me "Excuse my intrusion"

Closing the door and turning around, I found myself around a great amount of green, making me blink for a few moments to accostum my eyes to the colors. Instantly, I noticed I was in the garden, and since Yakko was occupied, I decided it would be a good idea to explore on my own for a bit.

I walked for a few minutes, finding flowers left and right, and the sight of so many species of plants - roses, violets, lilies and more - made me smile. There was a path in the middle, and as I followed it, I noticed there was a small clearing at the end with a bench and a small table in front of it.

"Wow this is really nice," I uttered to the air as I sat down on the bench, looking around a bit more until I saw a shadow approach me. I was surprised by the sudden appearance, but the calm sound of the figure's voice told me I wasn't in any danger.

"Do you like it? I designed it myself" the girl asked with a smile as she walked toward me, the blond curly hair in her pony tail moving with the wind behind her. Her light green eyes were inspecting me curiously, as if searching for something mysterious in my appearance.

"Yeah, it's really neat" I replied with a laugh, yet all I received was a really confused look from the other girl.

"Excuse me? Neat? Is that a new word?" she questioned, stopping short of scratching her hair in confusion, and I instantly remembered I was not in my current time. You would think that with the number of times I had traveled to the past, I wouldn't make this mistake by now.

"Uh, I meant beautiful! Yeah, beautiful..." I muttered awkwardly, chuckling nervously as the blond thought about it for a second, laughing lightly afterwards.

"I see. I am thankful for the compliment..." she trailed off, noticing she didn't yet know my name.

"Ah, I'm Elisa. New servant and walking disaster" I laughed, glad that the other was laughing as well.

"I am StarDust, the gardener. And come now; walking disaster? You can't possibly be that bad" she chuckled quietly, "You can't if you're new; you haven't had any experience yet!"

"Believe me, I usually break stuff without meaning to..." I trailed off, looking to the ground in embarrassment.

_- That something is usually time and space. I hope I don't get clumsy this time -_

"You will just have to be careful" StarDust shrugged, and she then put her hand in front of me, as if asking me to take it "Since you appear to be relaxing for now, how about I show you the garden? You won't have much time to loose later, so it's better to know your surroundings beforehand" she smiled.

Deciding to take her offer, I took her hand and stood up from the bench, "I'd love to"

And so, I spent some time with a new friend while I wondered what my other one was doing.

* * *

**So how was that? Okay? Although the story is mostly written from Elisa's POV (changing to 3rd person when we focus on Yak), the focus isn't actually on her. The story is about Yakko, okay? In fact, you'll see him have a bigger part from here on out, so look forward to that. I will try to update at least once a month, although I already have several chapters finished for this story, so I might upload the 2nd one a week from now or something.**

**Anyway, tell me if you like it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yay, new chapter! So I thought I would post them every friday or something of the sort ^^**

**Well, going to the story.. This chapter is sort of mysterious, I guess. Mostly because I'm probably giving you all these questions about what the hell Yakko's thoughts mean. Though, I'm sure it's not that hard to figure out. **

**Well, onward with the story! This time from Yakko's POV. **

* * *

_- This girl... She's so... peculiar... -_ the boy thought as he walked through the hallways of the mansion, carrying a rolled up list in his hands.

It wasn't every day a new servant entered the place, especially not one that acted as strange as her. Usually, everyone was scared to death their first day, not leaving their rooms until further notice, but this girl... She had just started out nervous (mostly his fault, he believed) but she had gotten a bit more confident when they started talking. Well, maybe she was just naive. He hadn't been planning on doing more than just chatting with her at that moment and then disappear from her sight completely, but when she talked about how she had supposedly entered the palace, he noticed she had a glint of something in her eyes. It was something like sadness, but mysterious in its essence nonetheless. It had simply caused a strange feeling to pass through him, and an even stranger thought that told him the girl had the potential ability to help him.

To be honest, he had no idea why he thought that, it was simply a conviction in his being, as if it was a given that the girl would help him out. That's why he thought about becoming an acquaintance of hers, to become the first person she came to for assistance, so that she would trust him, and when they became 'friends', perhaps she would think of helping him in his mission.

Noticing he was wasting precious time, the boy finally went away from his thoughts to regard the list of invitations for the Queen's ball a few days after, simply revising that the names written there all had a tick next to them. "Let's see… letter for Count Grasbich, already sent. Letter for Countess Elizabeth, already sent. Letter for…" It was a fairly easy job, but he has definitely had worse. However, he had just remembered that even stopping to chat with Elisa had taken out necessary time to do other things, things he had to start doing now because they were a hell of a lot more important than checking this list.

"God, I don't have time for this, I should be polishing the silverware…" with a sigh, he looked around for someone to pass the chore to; quickly spotting a blond girl that was just next to the door.

"Marilyn, could you do this for me? Thanks, bye." He said in a rush, suddenly going out the door and leaving her perplexed with the list in her hands.

Walking through the corridors, he absentmindedly looked through the window, spotting Elisa and Star taking a stroll together.

_- At least she's making friends... -_ he thought, half-heartedly glad for her but also a bit skeptical about where this would put him in her 'friend list'. It wasn't like he was jealous or anything, hell, he barely knew her, but it was going to affect his plan if he was simply number 2.

Hoping to clear the thought out of his head, he continued on until he reached the kitchen, near were he had met the girl for the first time. Opening the door, he quickly spotted several people working to prepare dinner for that night. Girls cooked and baked, boys cut and stirred, and different people ran here and there taking ingredients to their stations.

In the midst of all the chaos, Yakko simply asked that the silver utensils were taking to the small room next to them and, once they were taken there, he got in and closed the door behind him.

He put what was necessary on the table, about to start his duties until he remembered the small key in one of his pockets.

_-Geez, I'm getting really distracted today-_ he thought with a sigh, but wondered over his situation nonetheless.

_- Hm, what is more important: the ball or the plan...? -_

Without thinking about it twice, the answer obvious, he took the trinket from his pant's pocket, and with it he opened the drawer of the desk. Millions of pages and a map of the castle were put on the table, and since he already had an excuse to what he was doing, he started revising the map for what could be the millionth time.

"Let's see… they might be over here, because no one goes there…" he murmured as his index finger brushed over a far part of the building, "Then again, what if they're over here?" the digit crossed the paper until it was at the other side of it "I might have to risk it; there is no way to know, after all…" Truthfully, he was just doing this out of false hope; he already knew that what he was trying to achieve was impossible.

And yet, Elisa had given him newfound strength to try. He just had to work hard, that was all. However, just as his thoughts were becoming a little brighter, he remembered _her_, and just how he had failed to save her when he had everything ready...

What if when he found where they were they weren't there? Or worse, what if she had already killed them long ago and was just bluffing with having them locked up? His fists clenched, almost tearing through the white gloves he was wearing.

_-…Please be alright… I need you to be alright...-_

Before he could brood over it more, however, there was a knock at the door. Slightly startled, he quickly hid the papers back in the drawer and closed it, going to the door and unlocking it.

In front of him was the girl with wine-red hair and blue sapphire eyes, who fidgeted a bit before looking up at him.

"Sorry, are you busy?" she asked with a small tilt of her head, to which he smiled and shook his head.

"Just a bit. I'm sure that if you help me we'll be done in no time" the boy replied as he sat down, pulling the chair next to him in invitation.

"Alright, but I expect a check after this" Elisa giggled and sat down next to him, taking the silver teapot and rag in her hand, rubbing the object with the piece of cloth as she hummed a song he didn't recognize.

A bit surprised she had agreed to go along with it but appreciating it, Yakko followed her and they both continued polishing the objects.

After a few minutes of silence, Elisa looked up to the teenager and asked in a quiet voice, "So… what is it you do around here?"

The boy merely stared back at her "Well, a bit of everything, if that makes any sense."

She nodded, putting the teapot down with a small huff and taking some forks instead "For how long have you been here? Is this like your home or something?"

Yakko froze for a second, thinking about what he could tell her and what he could not, so he sat deep in thought while the other looked curiously at him.

"What? Is something wrong?"

He almost jumped at her question, but didn't give any indication that he was startled, "No, just… I was thinking about how to respond" he replied, hoping she couldn't spot his uneasiness with the subject.

Thankfully, she didn't say anything, merely nodded and waited patiently for his response.

"I've been here for quite a while, actually. It's been… eight years, I think? I don't exactly consider it my home, though. It's… more like my work place" he said, shrugging at the last part.

She nodded again and made herself more comfortable on the chair, "So, where is your real home? Any friends, family?"

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, simply saying "Wow, stalker much?" and lightly chuckling when her face exploded in red, the girl spluttering and saying over and over that was not what she meant.

"It's just…" she said alter she had calmed down a bit "You're kind of mysterious. And you're the first friend I've had since I got here… So I want to know more about you" the girl finished, looking to the side absentmindedly. It wasn't exactly a lie...

Yakko sighed but smiled, waving his hand dismissively when she apologized for being nosy "It's okay, I guess I can understand your reasons." Friends, family, could he really tell her any of that? No, of course not, he had just met her and the situation was far too risky to tell her something like that.

"I have a younger brother and sister back home, they're with my parents" he said, making sure the expression on his face made his statement credible. "I didn't exactly have many friends back there, after all I left when I was seven, and people here don't seem to like me much" he laughed at the last part, signifying he didn't really care.

However, Elisa frowned and used her nosy instincts to try and pry more information from him "Why not?"

His voice got stuck in his throat; what was he supposed to tell her? Surely if he told her a lie the girl would simply ask someone else and he would be discovered, but he couldn't tell her the truth either.

So he decided to go for a half-truth "I… kind of hurt some people in the past… not on purpose of course, but others don't trust me because of it"

The redhead stared at him in curiosity, but she noticed he was uncomfortable and dropped the subject.

"So, what about you? Do you have something interesting to tell?" the servant asked after a bit of silence, the sound of polishing disturbed by his voice.

The other stopped to think for a moment, but then said "Not much, I used to live with my mother and father at the countryside, but as I told you, now I work here…" she trailed off, and even with her following of her earlier deceit, he could tell there was a bit of lying in there.

"I see…" was all he said as they continued their task, silver shining once they were done.

After a while, they had finished, and Elisa stood up as she took some sweat off her brow with her hand.

"Phew! We've finally finished!" she stretched a bit, looking at him with a curious expression "Now what? I heard there were more things for us to do? What's the reason for it?"

Yakko shrugged, explaining there was a party in a few days that would be held in the palace. The red-head practically beamed at the thought and jumped up and down in excitement "A party!? Wow! I've never been to an upper-class party!"

The boy smiled at her enthusiasm, "It's actually kind of nice. You know, people dancing around in expensive clothes and masks..." she nodded quickly at all of this and put on a dreamy face, probably imagining a beautiful satin dress she could be dancing in. "We can't go on the dance floor, though."

That was enough to break the girl out of her fantasy, frowning in question "What? Why not?"

He shook his head, saying matter-of-factly "We're servants. We are supposed to take care of the food, the guests and other things, we don't have the luxury of actually enjoying the festivity"

Her ears drooped and her eyes showed pure disappointment "Oh... that's right..."

The sudden change in the girl's attitude made his own mood sour a little, so he decided to disintegrate the saddened fog that had gathered around them.

"Hey, how old are you?" he asked, staring at her with curious eyes.

He stunned her out of her disappointment, and she looked around for a bit before she was able to think straight again "Uh, fourteen. Why?"

A big grin appeared on his face, and he laughed, putting one arm around her in a playful manner "Well, I'm fifteen. That makes me your teacher, doesn't it?"

The girl was about to question how he made that reasoning before he started to practically drag her out of the room "Well! I have plenty of things to teach you!"

She laughed, quickly getting out of her sadness and playing along "But I don't wanna study, I wanna play!" she whined, suddenly detaching herself from Yakko's hold and running out of the room "Let's play tag!"

He laughed along with her, running after the redhead "Don't think you'll be able to escape from me! I'll definitely catch you and make you write lines until you're eighteen~!"

They ran out of the kitchen and to the hallways, laughing all the while as they chased each other. They passed several servants on their way, some that looked at them with amusement and others that stared with a small smile, particularly a certain blond.

They ran until they got back to where this had all started, the hallway where Elisa's bedroom was. Yakko was about to tell her that they should start preparing themselves for bed when something stopped the female in her tracks.

Hoping to tease her a bit more, he walked over to her, saying "What's wrong? Tired already~?"

However, the smile on his face instantly vanished when he saw what - or rather who - was in front of her.

"Yakko, who is this girl?" the queen asked with an air of arrogance, staring at the servant girl with disgust, a look that brought less than wanted memories to the male.

Fighting the urge to ignore her and stare at the ground, he simply looked into her eyes and said seriously, all business like, "She is the new servant Your Magesty. She works with me"

Elisa looked absolutely terrified at seeing the woman actually in front of her, especially since said female appeared angered by her very presence. He noticed she was shaking, and, ignoring his own survival instinct that told him what he was about to do was the WORST IDEA HE EVER HAD, he put a hand on her shoulder to calm her, receiving a shaky grateful smile from her.

His gut feeling had been right, because the woman's eyes narrowed and her frowned deepened.

"What have you both been doing up until now?"

"We were polishing the silverware, madam. It was hard work"

The woman raised an eyebrow at his implied sarcasm, but decided to involve herself no further "Alright, go now to clean the ballroom. I better not find you loafing around!"

"We will not turn into bread Your Majesty, I assure you"

The redhead now next to him seemed torn between the desire to laugh her lungs out and run away from the queen as soon as possible.

The woman sighed, as if she was accustomed to the whole thing, and walked away, leaving them alone in the hallway.

Once she was out of sight, Elisa laughed full-heartedly, saying between laughs "You... How could you... joke with her... like that!"

Yakko smiled, happy that _someone_ had appreciated his stupid sense of humor for once, and laughed lightly with her "I'm used to it. She's so stuck in her sour mood, joking is the only thing I can do so she can't glue the boring onto me"

She chuckled before saying "If that ever happens I'll beat it out of you with a stick" and they laughed together.

After a while, they kept a comfortable silence, one that the redhead broke with a statement that pretty much turned his mood upside-down.

"She seems kind of strict, but not nearly half as bad as I'd imagined"

Had stillness been solid, one would have been able to cut a big piece of it right at that moment, because the male servant was very much upset with the turn in the conversation. However, he didn't let it be shown to his new friend.

He swallowed his argument with a dry throat, saying instead "Yeah... she's not... too bad once you get to know her..."

Elisa noticed his stiffness and turned concerned eyes to him "Yakko? Is something wrong?"

"I... You should get dressed for bed, it's getting late"

He abruptly took her by the shoulders and led her to the door of her room, which was actually nearby, and he opened it, lightly pushing her inside.

"But... the queen said we had to clean the ballroom..." she started, completely dumbfounded by his change in mood.

"Don't worry about that, I'll do it. As for you, you need to rest. I'm sure if you don't go to sleep now you won't be able to get up at five in the morning tomorrow."

The redhead frowned and took a step forward, ready to fight and help him with their obligations "But-"

"No buts, you're going to bed and that's the end of this argument" he said seriously, not moving an inch as she crept closer. She gave up after trying to push him out of the way without success, sighing in defeat.

"Fine... But what if something happens? I don't know my way around..."

"If an emergency were to occur at any time, my room is right opposite yours, over there" he pointed at a door on the wall that was facing his back "If you ever need me when it's nighttime it's most likely I'll be there. That is... unless I'm out doing an errand... In that case, go back to your room and lock the door with the key that's in one of the drawers in your desk. If you search for it you'll find it"

The girl huffed, but nodded, and then said with a sly smile "Fine, if the palace catches on fire or I need a glass of water I'll go to your room to wake you up"

He smiled slightly at that, and added "Don't go prowling around at night, it's dangerous. Now go" he smiled wider and made a gesture for her to enter the room, which she did with a huff and stuck her tongue out at him while she was at that.

He rolled his eyes and closed the door, chuckling as he walked over to the ballroom to begin cleaning.

* * *

_-Let's see... The chandelier is shining; the bulbs of the other lights were changed twice. The floor was swept and polished and so were the stairs... I think that's it -_

Yakko sighed in tiredness, having been up half the night working so the ballroom looked spotless. Unfortunately, that also meant he only had five hours of sleep left.

Dragging his body to the hallway where his room was, he looked around with sleepy eyes and found a light on in the room he was just passing by, which he frowned at. He heard voices, and decided to lean against the door to attempt to hear more properly.

"No, I said I do not wish for him to come to the ball!" the queen screeched as she most likely threw a wobbly "If that king comes here he'll ruin everything I have planned! Take all the precautions necessary so that he does not come, understood!?"

He heard a frightened "Y-Yes Your Highness..." and the door was opened. To his luck, he had anticipated this and had turned a corner before the maid's response left her lips, so now that the queen was closing the door he could walk by absentmindedly and unsuspected.

However, that didn't mean the woman was going to leave him be on his merry way. Oh, no, completely the contrary.

"Yakko, I want to speak with you for a moment"

He stopped in his tracks, turned around and made a small reverence before saying "Do you need my services Your Majesty?"

"I do, actually. But first I'll ask, have you finished cleaning the ballroom? That girl wasn't being lazy and letting you do all the work was she?"

"I forced Elisa to go to sleep earlier My Lady. I wouldn't want a female to ruin her looks with lack of rest"

He watched the face of the woman contort in an angered frown, and he forced himself not to snicker at the realization that his plan to bother her had worked.

"So she is named Elisa? I do not like that girl, she gives me a bad feeling"

_- Perhaps that's why I like her so much - _

However much he wanted to continue angering the annoying woman, he was exhausted, so he simply made another reverence and said that he had to get to bed, walking past the queen to go to his room.

"Warner."

Yakko stopped walking abruptly, noticing that she had used his surname and that her voice had a sharp edge. She only used his last name when she absolutely wanted whatever she ordered done. He knew this because it was only on _very _rare occasions, since she said he could never tell anyone his surname. Ever.

Knowing this was probably not going to be the least pleasant to him, he turned around to stare at the woman.

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I believe you were told you had to run an errand before going to bed."

Oh, now she was pushing his buttons. He bit his lip internally, fighting his urge to either punch the annoyance in front of him or run back to his room, neither of which would be good for his health, considering how the woman got when she was ignored.

"You will have to excuse me, I am rather tired and in need of rest. I am not in the condition to do such a thing" He didn't even add the 'right now', because he _never _was in the condition to do that. Just thinking about it brought unnerving shivers up his spine.

"Are you ever? You will go to the library today. I will be expecting you at midnight, which is more than enough time to prepare yourself."

They stared at each other for a few moments, and he was about to protest against it when the woman brought to his attention a necklace around her throat with a key as a charm. This was a real key to a room hidden deep within the palace, a room that held his most precious things captive.

The servant gulped and, shaking, he nodded his head uselessly, to which the woman smirked with cruelty.

"Don't forget about it or you know what will happen."

His right eye twitched and he started walking away before he did something he would surely regret.

A few minutes later he had arrived at his bedroom, where he closed the door with himself inside, his back sliding against the door until he was sitting on the floor.

He thought back to what Elisa had said that the woman wasn't as bad as she thought, and all he could think was _- You don't know her yet. You don't know what she's hiding. I can't stand that witch. I can't stand her. Can't stand her. Can't-_ He stopped, thinking like that wasn't helping his sanity. He sighed and stood up, determined to at least take a shower before he went to the place of his nightmares.

It was ironic for him to wash up when he was only going to be dirtied again.

He was sick of it. Sick of her, sick of the palace, and fucking sick of the library. She knew he hated doing... THAT, and yet she continued to force him into it. Didn't she know what it did to his mind? Maybe she really wanted him to go insane.

_- Alright, Yakko. You know you can't do a thing about this, so don't beat yourself up over it -_

He breathed deeply, opening the side door to his bathroom - curious that he had one for himself - and taking a quick bath, dreading what was to come all the while.

Once he was out, his thoughts turned into a more cheerful subject, the girl he had met today. Elisa was nice to be around; she even made the stress nonexistent while he was with her.

Then again, that had happened enough times for him to know this wouldn't be permanent.

A sad frown replaced the smile on his face, and he hoped with all his being that this time it wouldn't happen, and that he could keep the 'friend' he had made today.

_-I'll have to be really cautious... - _

He plopped down on his bed, sighing contently when his muscles relaxed and his bones came into place. He remembered his comment on showing her the palace grounds and, though he hadn't been serious, he thought that it might be fun.

The boy chuckled lightly as he remembered her red face; honestly, the girl was so much fun to tease.

He heard a small bell chime from the clock propped on his wall, and his stomach churned when he realized that it was midnight, and that he was supposed to go to the library right now.

* * *

**For those who were confused as to why Yakko 'didn't have a last name', now you know. Hm, why isn't he allowed to tell it to anyone? You'll have to read on later to find out .w.**

**So, did you like it? The interesting stuff is still waiting ahead of us. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey. Hey hey hey. School started where I live and it's trying to kill me, but I still have several chapters to upload. Which means that after some chapters I'll take longer to update, but for now I have enough to cover this month .u. **

**So, we're back with Elisa's POV, and she's about to meet a new friend. I know things don't look so exciting now, but trust me, the pace picks up after a few chapters. Just give me a chance to get to that, 'kay? **

**Okay, here you have Chapter 3 ^u^**

* * *

My sleep was rudely interrupted when light sneaked into the room from the window, making me open my eyes and looking at said annoyance with narrowed eyes. I sighed in submission and sat up, looking at the clock that was on my nightstand.

To my surprise, it said it was eight thirty.

"What!? I'm terribly late! Why didn't you wake me up!?" I yelled at the object now in my hands, shaking it in anger even though it had no fault in my oversleeping.

Oh right. These clocks didn't have an alarm.

I grumbled at my own stupidity and got up, opening the cupboard that was in front of my bed and looking inside. There was only a grey and white dress, which I picked up with an irritated frown.

"Really? That's it? Damn it..." I said, realizing I would have to wash the damn thing every day to have it in a presentable state. I put it on, noticing with surprise that a silver watch was placed inside of one of its pockets, and I took it out to inspect it for a moment, staring at a strange marking inside.

_- Hm... I wonder what this means... -_ I thought, lightly passing my fingers over marks that looked to be of an ancient language.

There was a small knock at the door, and I instantly put the mysterious watch back in my pocket; maybe it would turn out to be important.

"Excuse me, but you have come out now. You have slept for long enough" a meek voice said from the other side of the door, knocking again.

I slowly walked over it with a guilty conscience; I should have been awake three hours ago!

Opening the door, I smiled sheepishly at the brunette that was there, black ears down as she played with the skirt of her dress. She didn't look to be any older than me, and I could tell she was new too because of her nervousness.

"Sorry, I'm new here and I'm not exactly the type to wake up at five in the morning" I laughed lightly, smiling when the girl smiled gently in return.

"No problem. I'm relatively new here as well, so I can understand" she nodded as if affirming her own sentence "To avoid waking up late we usually pair up with someone who wakes up early, so they can wake the late sleeper up in time. I suggest you try it" she smiled again before she moved out of the way, motioning for me to start my duties "The first few times are excused, so don't worry."

I thanked her and looked around, spotting Yakko's door on the other side as I had found out the day before. As I was walking to it, I stopped abruptly, noticing something strange. His door was slightly open.

I sighed and gently shook my head, closing it. Had he really been in such a hurry that he couldn't close it himself?  
I wondered where he could be if he had practically flown out of his room to get there, and since I had absolutely no idea about where to go or what to do I had to find him and ask.

I was nervous and embarrassed that I was so useless even on my first actual day of work. I had to maintain my post here, so I should get to it! I vaguely stared at the bead attached to my necklace, sighing when I saw it was a really light pink; that only meant that the event I was supposed to change was nearby in the timeline, but not quite there yet.

Wondering when it would be and what I was going to do about it, I walked through the hallways, searching for Yakko but instead seeing numerous other servants. Several greeted me with a smile, however, some were so immersed in their work they didn't even notice my presence. I didn't let this bother me though, and looked curiously to the people as I waved at them.

As I was looking, a question popped into my head - Was Yakko the only one of these species with black hair? I had seen several blond, brown haired and even some redheaded servants around, but none with black hair.

_- That's kind of weird... -_

With this strange thought in my head, I continued walking. To my embarrassment, I was staring upward and not paying attention to my surroundings, something that caused me to bump into a girl with blond, slightly wavy hair. As the clothes she had been holding were dropped to the floor, I saw the servant stare at me in surprise before quickly picking up some of the garments.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" she exclaimed, and although I was tempted to say I was sorry, instead, I said "It's okay, no one does" chuckling at the fact that the same thing had happened with Yakko.

Obviously not understanding my inside joke, the girl stood upright after finishing picking up the clothes, which made me see her face more clearly.

"Wait... Do I know you from somewhere?" I asked, truly curious. Hadn't I met a girl just like her yesterday?

"Maybe you know my older sister, her name is StarDust. Did you meet her already?" she questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"Ah, the gardener, right? I met her yesterday and I think she's very talented"

"She is, isn't she?" she chuckled, smiling brightly at me. It looked like I made a good first impression.

"Anyway, I should introduce myself" she said, clearing her throat before saying "I'm Marilyn Milers. I mostly do the cleaning and... other things" she said, motioning to the pile of clothes in her arms.

"I'm Elisa Simons, nice to meet you. Um... it's somewhat embarrassing but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do here..." I said, smiling sheepishly and laughing in nervousness.

Thankfully though, Marilyn wasn't paying attention to the last part of what I said, she seemed interested in something else.

"Elisa... Ah, right! The girl rumored to be going out with the queen's servant!"

I practically choked on air, blushing so bad I thought I would die of overheat "G-Going out!? No way! We've just met yesterday! And he's just a friend, not my boyfriend..." I murmured the last bit, going even redder at the thought. Although, maybe being paired up with him wasn't so bad. He certainly was handsome... Well, actually, he fit more into the 'cute' category, didn't he?

The blond laughed full-heartedly at my blush covered face, trying to calm down but being unsuccessful "But if you were together all of yesterday! He even protected you in front of the queen, didn't he? Yakko doesn't do that for everybody"

I was slightly surprised at this, having thought that was simply part of his character, helping the weak and all that "He doesn't do that for everybody? Does that mean I'm a special case?"

Marilyn nodded, and I could feel my cheeks getting redder.

"Let's say he doesn't want to mess with her" the girl started explaining, "He may act cool when he's in front of others but the truth is that he's terrified of her, or rather, what she can do. I heard a rumor saying that there's something she needs him for, though what that is nobody is sure"

I looked at her with slight distrust; if the rumors had said that Yakko and me were dating then this wasn't very trustworthy information. However, I still pondered about it, and I must have been wearing a very serious expression, because Marilyn said "You're not worried about him... Are you?"

"And what if I am?"

The girl looked at me with a sad smile that told me 'It won't work, trust me', before she said "It's common knowledge here that Yakko tries to stay away from everybody. In fact, he barely has any friends, because no matter how many people try to get to him, he always pushes them away, saying he's too busy for friendship of any sort"

My eyes were as wide as plates; what did that mean?

_- But he accepted me so quickly yesterday... He even joked around like we were best friends!-_

I wondered if my superiors had done something to make my job easier, but they never did anything like that.

"I think you sparked his curiosity" Marilyn answered my mental question with a smile, but not one that said 'he lovesss you~', more like one of 'he thinks you might be of help'.

"His... curiosity...?" I asked wearily, I couldn't quite understand what she meant.

"You seem different from everyone else, you act as if you were from the future or something"

I stiffened at that, but the girl was laughing, so she obviously wasn't serious.

"Ha ha... Yeah, I've been told I'm... peculiar..." I replied, looking around for some other topic of conversation, but the blond beat me to it.

"Anyway, since you were able to get near him, try to help him, will you?"

"Help him? With what?" This was getting stranger by the minute, I felt like I was missing a joke.

"The Queen, of course"

I was slightly surprised; sure, he had gotten tense when I had said she wasn't as bad as I thought, and yeah, she was kind of scary, but I didn't think their relationship was any more than him making jokes and slightly irritating her.

The blond continued despite my confused silence "As I said, he's scared of her, but not just that, he loathes her" she explained, a serious frown on her face "They're at each other's throats every day. Actually, -don't tell him I told you this- there was an occasion seven years ago that almost left him in tears, never mind that he was seven at the time. It appeared that she had threatened him with something, but nobody's sure what. In fact, no one knows much about him, he's such an introvert."

I processed this information, reeking my mind for something she could have threatened him with, but found nothing, so all I said was, "So, were you here with him seven years ago?"

She laughed a bit and said "Yep, I know him since we were children, my sisters and I were his first official 'friends'"

I nodded but then something she said caught my attention "Wait... sisters? You have another sister?"

The smile was wiped right off her face and it turned pale, as if she had seen a ghost where I was.

"Ah... yeah... I didn't tell you about that, did I..." she laughed morbidly and a sad frown got on her face "My sister... Rose... She... was executed five years ago"

My eyes widened "Five years ago? But-But that means-"

"She was killed at the early age of ten, yeah" she replied quietly "I'm sure she would have grown up to be a fine independent woman... She never really liked being told what to do..."

Marylin sighed, continuing "She was my twin sister and... Yakko's best friend..." she looked to the side as I blinked dumbfounded "She was killed after being accused of stealing some of the queen's jewelry, which was found in her room. She had a perfect alibi, because she had been playing with us the entire time, but she was still found guilty."

I covered my mouth with my hands, murmuring "... Who would do that...? She was just ten..."

"Blood-thirsty royalty, that's who" she scowled, fighting to keep her temper at bay "Well, needless to say my sister and I were devastated but... it was nothing compared to him..." her scowl disappeared and her tone saddened "He... didn't speak to anyone for a month. A _month_. I mean, back then, if you got him to shut up for five seconds someone would give you a medal" she stressed, "When we asked if he was alright he just looked at us with empty eyes and nodded half-heartedly. Obviously, we didn't believe him, but he wouldn't talk to us."

I looked up at her and wondered quietly "He... Did he...?"

"I'm not sure, but sis did. They were really close and practically never left each other's side. She told me she was in love with him just a week before it happened but, to him, I think she was just a really good friend" she trailed off into a sigh, staring back at me "He never trusted another person again though. He never approached anyone again. He just... pushed them away, probably afraid of being hurt" she theorized, putting a hand to her chin in thought. "Like I said, people try to get to him but he never lets them, except for a few exceptions..."

"Exceptions? Am I one of those?"

Marilyn nodded, and continued "They were able to be with him for a little while, but it never lasted. Most were unfortunate enough to get executed for various strange crimes. There was this one who was accused of stealing food from the kitchen... Another one was thought to be slipping out of the castle late at night to visit her boyfriend at a town nearby ... The list goes on" she shook her head in disbelief "You don't just kill someone for these things, there had to have been an ulterior motive. The Queen has something strange going on with Yakko, I'm telling you. I don't know what it is, but I don't like it, and I don't think he does either" she paused and looked at me seriously "Are you ready to take the risk?" she looked like she was pleading, but would accept my answer regardless of what it was.

I smiled and said "Of course, I want to help him" to which she sighed in relief and looked at me, grateful.

"Good. Just be careful, we don't want any more bodies to add to the count" she said, and I shivered in discomfort before I nodded.

"Don't worry, nobody will touch a hair on my head!" I replied enthusiastically, and I remembered just what my mission had been before encountering her "Actually, do you know where Yakko is right now?"

Sadly, she shrugged, saying "Sorry, I have no idea. Wasn't he going to show you the place?"

I nodded, but frowned in thought "Yeah, but he wasn't in his room. In fact, it was slightly open, so I thought he went running somewhere."

Marilyn stayed thinking for a moment, before questioning "Are you absolutely sure he wasn't in his room? Did you see it empty?"

I shook my head and smiled sheepishly, understanding that I had jumped to conclusions "No... He's not in there, is he?"

The blond sighed, and nodded "He's in there, alright. He didn't go running anywhere, Yakko is most likely sleeping in again"

"He's done this before?"

She laughed a bit "It's a common occurrence he doesn't get much sleep at night, so he's usually too tired to wake up on his own. He's such a sleepy-head" she giggled with mirth "At first he tried pairing up with a girl who could wake him up early but..." she trailed off with a sad face "Well, you know."

I nodded, not wanting to sadden her more "Why is he always so tired? Shouldn't he go to sleep earlier?"

She shook her head and frowned "There are some random days in which the queen has him do extra work at night, and once I stayed up to find him stumbling into his room at four in the morning. I want to know what it is, but I never had the courage to follow him..." she looked down, as if ashamed of her cowardice.

I shook my head, hoping to reassure her "It's okay, you're just taking precautions, and that's smart considering what has happened. I'll go search for him, maybe I'll find something out"

The blond nodded "Yeah, good idea" though I could have sworn she mumbled something afterwards that sounded like "I think I'll get my own answers soon too". I was about to ask her what she was talking about, but she simply turned and started walking away. Before she disappeared though, she looked back, repeated "Remember, be careful" and waited for my nod before she turned a corner and was out of my sight.

Deciding to forget her mumbling, I walked back through the corridor I had come from, but instead of going inside my room, I walked to Yakko's, knocking on the door quietly. Since I didn't receive an answer, I opened the door and got inside.

The room was practically the same as mine, but his pocket watch was on top of his desk, along with some papers that looked to be important. The boy I had been searching for was on top of his blankets - yes, on top, he wasn't even in his bed! - breathing quietly as he slept. The only piece of clothing he had taken off was his vest, which was resting right next to him, still in his hand. He had a bed head and I could see a red spot on his shirt, shrugging it off with the thought that he might have been cleaning wine glasses and spilled some on top of himself. Every once in a while one of his ears, his foot or one of his hands would twitch slightly, making him look adorable even with his messy appearance.

It was almost a funny sight. Almost.

I say almost because it was obvious that the reason for his disheveled state and him still being in his work clothes was because he had stayed up until really late that night, probably having been too tired to even prepare himself for bed. I recalled Marilyn had told me about it just a few minutes before, and I shook my head, sad for his tiredness.

I slowly walked over to the bed and briefly looked at the window; the curtains were closed around it, so the sun didn't get in the room. Quickly tuning my attention back to the other servant, I put my hands on his shoulders and gently shook him.

"Yakko, it's time to get up. You're late and it's almost nine"

The boy stirred a bit before opening an eye, staring with a foggy white pupil into my black ones before closing it and sitting up, rubbing at his eyes. I was surprised, he looked so tired but he had woken up as if he had been merely taking a nap...

"Oh, hi Elisa... Sorry for forcing you to wake me up, I'm kind of tired" he said sleepily, yawning and swaying to his side before sitting upright again.

_- Kind of? You look ready to pass out -_

Ignoring his apology, I frowned, crossing my arms "At what time did you go to sleep last night?"

He stared to the side guiltily; it looked like he knew that I was aware that he hadn't slept at all.

"Midnight"

I was tempted to laugh at his poor attempt to lie to me. Even if I hadn't known anything beforehand, his expression said different from his words. There were huge bags under his sleepy eyes, and his eye lids were closing every now and then but before he could go back to dreamland he opened them abruptly.

"Don't lie to me, you look like you haven't slept at all" I replied in an annoyed but concerned tone, frowning when I was able to stare more intently at the blotch on his clothes I had previously overlooked; was that-?

Yakko must have noticed me staring at it, because he discreetly tried to cover it with his hand, acting as if it was unimportant "I cut myself with a knife accidentally, I was helping in the kitchen and didn't notice. Looks like some blood got on my clothes" he laughed absentmindedly but I noticed one of his eyebrows twitched slightly in discomfort, and I narrowed my eyes, because he didn't have his gloves on and there wasn't a bandage on any of his fingers or hand.

Even with my suspicions, I let it slide "Sure, it's understandable" and I could have sworn that for a second he looked like he was grateful for me brushing it aside. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand, you shouldn't be up until so late. What were you doing anyway?"

He flinched, and for a moment his eyes looked distressed, but they turned back to normal immediately and I wondered if I had merely imagined it "I told you, I was helping in the kitchen. I did that after finishing cleaning the ballroom... It just took too much time out of my sleep, it doesn't happen all the time though"

I frowned slightly, angry at myself for letting him convince me into sleeping and not helping him, he might have been able to sleep more if I had...

As if reading my thoughts, the boy sighed and smiled sadly at me "Hey, it's not your fault; I forced you to go to bed after all" he laughed "Besides, ladies need their beauty sleep"

I pouted at his teasing, mumbling "I'm not a lady..." before I punched his arm lightly, only getting him to laugh more.

"Sure you're not" he replied, looking a lot more awake now, and he moved to the side of the bed, dropping to the floor and stirring "I should get ready for work, you said it was nine or something, right?" he wondered, looking at me and smiling at my nod "Well then, you can look around while I get... presentable" we both snickered at that "I'll find you eventually, and then we can... ah, do stuff" Maybe he wasn't so awake after all "Sounds good?"

I chuckled and nodded enthusiastically, going out the door with a "Don't take too long!"

* * *

**Whoo, another chapter done! Agh, this story is really full of dialogue, but what can you do.**

**So, Marilyn told Elisa about mysterious Yakko; what could he possibly be doing at night that keeps him awake until the morning hours? Hm, I wonder... It might have to do with the library. Also, what was that spot of blood on his clothes? How did he cut himself if his hands were perfectly fine? Is that a clue? Questions, questions. **

**Anyway, I hope you tell me if you liked it or not; even a silly review that says that you read it makes me happy, so don't hesitate to do so (I'm implying people read what I write HA). I also want to say that my other story Everyone's Wish is being put on standby until I finish this one. Once this one is finished, I will go work on that .w. **

**Hope you enjoyed! See you next chapter. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there! So, another chapter. I believe things will go bad from here on out... But, the good news is that we get so see some little Wakko and Dot! **

**(audience): Yaaaaaay!**

**Yes, I know it's great they have finally gotten some screen time, even if it's a small amount ^u^**

**On another note, I want to thank all of you who followed this story and reviewed. It makes me really happy to see that people enjoy what I do :) **

**Ehem, I think I bored you long enough... On with the chapter!**

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_"Big brother where are we going?" a small boy of barely two years old questioned as they stood in the boy-soon-to-be-servant's new bedroom, the candle flickering with the cold winter wind that passed through the window and entered the room. _

_The older boy gulped inaudibly. What was he supposed to tell his baby brother? Thinking about it was already bad enough, but saying it out loud would probably make him break down in tears. How could he explain to a two year old that he and their baby sister were going to be taken from him, hidden somewhere, and that they would probably never see each other again? _

_He searched his mind for other options, but there were none. Escaping was out of the question, even if their previous attempts hadn't failed, they would have been walking through the snow again, without food, water or shelter, and he couldn't allow his siblings to go through that again. Was this any better though? Being trapped in a cell for the rest of their days because they had the misfortune of having an older brother who was needed by that woman? It was so unfair. He was the only one supposed to suffer this. He was the one who carried the misfortune, so why did his family have to suffer for it? _

_It didn't make sense. It infuriated him that the woman wasn't considering the feelings and well-being of the younger children, and was only thinking of her own ambitions. _

_What those ambitions were, he had no idea, but she wanted to use him for them. _

_The seven year old child stared down at his brother, who was looking up at him with wide, frightened eyes, and the older boy cursed himself for it; wasn't he supposed to make sure they were happy and didn't make such expressions? _

_He smiled sadly and crouched to the younger child's height, ruffling his hair gently "It'll be okay, Wak. I just want you to remember something" he waited until the boy nodded his head and looked back at him with determination in his wide black eyes "Wherever you are, I will still be protecting you, okay? I'll never let anything happen to either of you, but I'll need help" _

_"What kind of help?" _

_"I need you to promise me that even in hard times, you'll remain strong and protect both yourself and our younger sister" the older boy said in a serious tone, but the gentle smile was still in place, and he hugged the younger one when he saw that tears were threatening to spill from his eyes; it looked like he understood what was going on. The hug was broken and the seven year old touched the child's nose playfully "And remember what we said: You gotta cheer up and never give up hope!" The kid giggled and his older brother laughed with him, hugging again before he looked at the baby sitting right next to them, looking at the whole ordeal with wide confused eyes. _

_The oldest hoisted the girl up and nuzzled their noses together, which made the girl giggle and her mood was improved tremendously, at least until her brother ruffled her hair and smiled sadly, saying "Be nice with your brother, okay, Dottie? Don't give him too much trouble" _

_The baby looked at him with wide eyes and the smile disappeared, as if she had now understood what was happening. She didn't pay attention to being called Dottie, something her brothers knew she hated but used it for cuteness' sake, because at the realization, she hugged her brother tightly, letting go only after she had sniffed and a few tears had left her eyes. _

_The seven year old gave the girl to his brother, who carried her in his arms easily even if she was almost as big as him, and turned around when the voice of the awful woman reached his ears. _

_"Already said your goodbyes? It's time, Yakko"_

The servant woke up with a start; he had fallen asleep without noticing and he even dreamt about _that_ time!

Grumbling, he sat up and shook his head to clear the cobwebs in his mind, rubbing his eyes and looking lazily towards his bathroom. He should wash his face first, that might wake him up fully and would prevent him from dropping to his bed and falling asleep again.

He stood up and got to the bathroom, taking the water from the bucket with his hands and splashing it on his face, drying it with a towel afterwards. The boy got out and changed immediately, taking one of the ten almost identical suits he had in his cupboard and putting it on, wearily looking at the shirt of the old one when he took it out. Thank God Elisa hadn't questioned the stain too much; if she had pried he wouldn't have been able to explain it to her. He had hoped none of it had gotten on his shirt, his gloves being covered in it and having to be thrown away was enough, but that too? The woman had allowed him to use the knife this time, which was less messy, and so, he got careless. He really should be more careful or people could put two and two together and he would be discovered, something he certainly didn't want.

Once he was dressed properly, he started walking out of the room, absentmindedly playing with the turnkey that was in a chain around his neck. The small object was one of the only things he still held about his past, that and the watch that came with it, playing music when the key was turned in its engines. He loved the tune it made, and he often listened to it briefly before going to sleep, especially after a night in the library. It helped him relax and forget about the cruelties of the world for five minutes, before he succumbed to a restless sleep full of nightmares or he simply didn't sleep at all.

Walking through the hallways, he spotted Marilyn going the opposite direction, and he did his best to look unimportant as he passed right next to her; he didn't need one of her talks right now. However, the blond seemed to have other plans, and she got him by his shirt collar before he could run away, pulling him to a corner and pushing him against the wall. She looked around to make sure no one was there, and then frowned at him, staying in front of him with her hands against his shoulders to make sure he didn't escape.

"Okay, listen here, Yakko, I'm tired of being avoided by you and I'm even more tired of you hiding in your little shell and refusing to tell me anything" she started, shoving an accusing finger into his chest "I want answers and I want them now. Where were you last night?"

The male blinked and tried looking unsure of what she was talking about, replying "I was walking around, helping in the kitchen, cleaning the ballroom-"

"I know perfectly well you finished cleaning the ballroom at midnight, and then you went somewhere unknown, but the cooks didn't see you there last night, and you weren't walking around either. Where. Were. You?" her eyes narrowed threateningly, and she pushed harder on his shoulders.

_- Shit. She's onto me. I have to lead her away... but how? - _

"You don't want to know"

_- Nice job, genius, now you admitted you were lying - _

He wanted to smack himself upside the head for speaking before thinking, but it wouldn't do much. She laughed sarcastically, and her face looked even more angry "Oh, trust me, I do. You think that just because of what happened we don't care about what happens to you? I thought you knew us better than that"

Oh, now she was talking about that _again_. Every time they talked it was about that, and he honestly didn't want to talk about the girl's twin sister, he was still trying to cope with the guilt after five years, he couldn't speak to her openly about it.

"StarDust already made her point with her attitude. I don't need you rubbing the fact that it was my fault in my face too."

The girl screamed in frustration, punching his arm not too lightly "Don't you get it!? It's exactly the opposite of what you're saying! I want to be your friend again, Yakko! Star is just sad and angry that you won't let us, so she just gave up a while ago, it doesn't mean she doesn't want to help you! Please... just give us a chance" she yelled, but her tone turned sad at the last sentence, and she looked at him with hopeful eyes.

He wanted to let her, he really did, but even if they had forgiven him, he still hadn't forgiven himself, and he wasn't about to let his childhood friends suffer the same fate their sister did.

"I'm sorry Marilyn, I really am but-"

"Yakko! There you are!"

_- Saved by the redhead - _

He breathed a sigh of relief when Elisa turned the corner and saw the scene, her eyes wide before she raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot "May I ask what you two are doing?"

Yakko waved at her half-heartedly, smiling sheepishly, while Marilyn frowned and rolled her eyes at him, moving backwards and giving him breathing space.

"Nothing, we were just-"

"Don't worry, I was just leaving" the blond said sourly, sending the male a glare before she passed the confused blue eyed girl, saying "Good luck trying to help this asshole" before she left, leaving them both at the corner.

The redhead looked at him curiously, as if asking 'The hell was that about?', and he sighed "It was nothing, she was just... angry at me for something" he didn't bother saying what it was; it would just sink him further.

He was surprised to find her nodding but quickly looking at him with half lidded eyes and a risen eyebrow "Okay. So, will you tell me what you were _really_ doing last night?"

He wanted to scream at this point, first Marilyn and now Elisa too? Hadn't she brushed it aside a few minutes ago? What had made her change her mind? "I already said it, it's not my fault neither of you believe me" he sighed, crossing his arms.

The red-headed girl rolled her eyes "Oh, come on. We both know that's not true, and Marilyn knows that as well. Can't you just tell me already?" she whined.

God, her voice was annoying when she was whining. In fact, her face was annoying when she looked at him with that expression too. It seemed like invisible people all around them were chatting between each other, laughing at his poor lie, and good God was it _annoying_.

_- Annoying, annoying, annoying! Would everything stop making me angry for once?! -_

He could barely remember Elisa was right in front of him anymore; he was so blinded by anger he couldn't even think. However, before he could actually do as one of his thoughts requested and punch the wall by his side, his ears started ringing. He looked around in surprise at the sound, altered as he was, and his eyes widened at the substance he saw covering the walls.

Red. Why did they have to be that disgusting color...?

Oh, she was covered in it too. Splashed with red coloring from head to toe, as if someone had taken a bucket of water and thrown it at her, but said water was crimson.

God, it was as if his mind was repeating last night's happenings. Even his brain wouldn't leave him alone.

His hands were shaking, and when he looked at them he could see the red that had been on his gloves on his palms now too.

_- I __**knew**__ I should have gotten new gloves! -_

"Hey, are you okay? You're... shaking..." she inquired with a worried frown. Couldn't she see the red that was covering her, the one that was probably covering him as well?

_- Just like last night... -_

"Yeah... It must be because I haven't slept well..." he laughed absentmindedly, but he was a nervous wreck on the inside. Was he the only one that could see it? Then he had to make as though it didn't exist... right?

The blood that flooded the palace had to stay a secret. For anyone other than him and that woman, it did not exist.

"A-Anyway, I've told you what I did so... If you excuse me, I'll go work on something" He didn't want to be around her right now, not around the new, naive girl. He wouldn't taint her with the kind of knowledge he had.

When he looked back at her, Elisa was staring at him with an incredulous look, obviously angry at his attempt to brush off the subject, but he didn't particularly care what she would think, or how she tried to get the answers from him. At least he didn't until he thought that she could start investigating the matter on her own by exploring...

_- Shit, that won't be good -_

Nervous, he fidgeted before trying to say "Listen I-"

"No, you don't need to say anything. I thought you wanted us to be friends. Friends don't hide things from friends; that leads me to believe you don't trust me" she said, a painfully serious expression on her face, one that he never would have imagined could cross her features "When you feel like being honest with me, we can go back to talking"

_- Oh, friends don't hide things from friends? -_ At that point his anger was overstepping his silent boundaries; she was lying to him too!

This girl was only making matters more complicated, rather than helping him solve them. What was the point in having her around then?

_- I should just get this over with -_

His conviction had been wrong, as usual.

"If you want me to be honest you should try doing that yourself" he said with a grimace, and she looked surprised to see him angry at her "What? You thought I was just going to tell you like that? You're hiding things from me too, don't think I haven't noticed" he started walking slightly toward her, unconsciously hoping to be menacing "You wouldn't be able to do anything even if I told you, and telling you would only burden me more than I already am" He saw her eyes widen and then look to the side with guilt, her eyes suddenly looking glassy; she wasn't about to cry, was she?

He felt slightly bad, but at that moment, anger was winning 99 to 1 over guilt "In fact, I don't even know why I tried being friends with you, it'll be useless anyway" And now he was going around saying unnecessary things. He should be saying this in his mind, not out loud where she could figure something out...

_- I don't need nosy friends... I had already decided this was going to be my last attempt, so I should have tried to make the most of it. Looks like it really was just a waste of time -_

"Use... less?" she said it in such a quiet voice that he barely heard her.

_- God damn her nosiness. God damn that woman. God damn this stupid red on my clothes! -_

He forced a huff of annoyance, then shook his head and started walking back to his room, frown ever present "Forget it, this wouldn't have worked from the beginning. Just... leave me alone" he tried walking away, but something stopped him.

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_- No... No, this wasn't what I-! -_

He was trying to close himself up again, and I was the cause... I had managed to get to him and now he was slipping away!

_- Why did I have to push him?! -_

I had thought that I could get more information and thus would be able to do my job better, because if I knew what was eating at him, I would know what I had to change in his future; at least I would have a clue. I had never thought he was going to react this badly to my questions! He had started acting really weirdly around the discussion too... He was looking at me like I had something that scared him on my face. What was that about?

"Wait!" I yelled, running to him and holding his sleeve to prevent him from leaving. He slowly turned around with annoyed eyes, and my fists tightened when I made the decision "I-I'll tell you everything... But I can't right now! Just... Just don't leave..."

_ - I need him near me... I know I have to change his future and I will help him whether he wants me to or not -_

The boy's eyes narrowed and he scoffed, moving his hand abruptly forward, which made my hand slip from its grip "That doesn't matter anymore, I told you that you can't help and I can't tell you anything"

_- I won't give up, Yakko! - _

"Doesn't matter!" I yelled, putting my arms around him from his back, keeping him from running away "You don't have to tell me anything! I won't cause trouble, I promise!"

_- I'll find out on my own eventually, but if you're not near me then there's no point in trying! I won't achieve anything like that! - _

He looked back at me again, frowning as he thought for a moment, and then took my arms away "I'll think about it" he said, walking to his room and closing the door behind him.

I could only stand there; I might have just ruined my chance.

"Hm? Yakko, is something wrong?"

The air around the black haired boy was tense, and the queen used this opportunity to get back at him for all his teasing, walking next to the servant with her hands behind her back. Yakko looked at her with an irritated expression before walking faster in an attempt to loose her, but to no avail; the woman just started walking faster too.

"I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone, please excuse me" he said, almost in a mocking tone, looking ahead to ignore the annoyed face of the queen that was now staring at him.

He had gotten out of his room to get some fresh air after his brain and heart fought to the death over what to do with Elisa, hoping to clear his mind off of it if only for a moment; there was no rush after all.

However, everyone seemed to want to bother him today. First Marilyn, who was acting as if he was something fragile, asked him why he wasn't with the redhead and why she had heard sad sniffles coming from said girl's room when she passed it. He had answered he didn't know what she was talking about and simply walked away, but he had actually listened to the blond and wondered if he had been too hard on her, or maybe she was quick to cry? However, his thoughts quickly turned from Elisa to Marilyn again, who said some weird things softly to him that he had only paid half a mind to. The things he had paid attention to made no sense.

Anyway, after the strange encounter with one of the blonds, he made the mistake of going to the garden, where he had stumbled onto StarDust. She regarded him with a slightly better mood than usual and asked if he was alright; 'You look pale', she said. Yakko was surprised at her concern and appreciated it, but at that moment he wasn't in the mood, so all he said was "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks" before he continued walking, deciding that going out of his room was not one of his brighter ideas.

As if all of this wasn't enough, the queen was now asking if he was fine, even if it was just to bother him; why was everyone suddenly worried about him?

"What? The friendly, talkative servant doesn't want to talk? What could have possibly happened?" she smiled as if she were the Cheshire Cat, leaning closer to him as he leaned the other way, uncomfortable.

"It doesn't matter, I just don't want to" He was so annoyed he didn't even bother trying to be polite. He was honestly thinking of just letting Elisa stay with him if it stopped everyone else from being so damn annoying.

"Still, you simply must tell me what is on your mind" she insisted, giggling more like a six year old girl than a twenty two year old woman "Is that girl bothering you? Is there anything I can do?" her voice was suddenly dark, and her smile only widened, causing a chill to go down his spine.

"N-No, Elisa hasn't done anything..." The girl really owed him for getting her out of trouble with the Queen; the woman looked delighted at the thought of making her head roll.

"Really now?" she wondered, walking in front of him so that he had to stop "You have been awfully distracted since she appeared~"

Shit, this was going to be harder than he thought...

"Ah, I've just been thinking a lot... You know, the usual..." he laughed uncomfortably, and the Queen's eyes lost all amusement.

"I know she's been prying"

He froze, heart racing a mile a minute. She couldn't have heard, right? Marilyn had tried making sure no one was around before the discussion...

"It would surely be a shame if she found something she shouldn't..." she muttered absentmindedly as she played with one of his ears, hitting it lightly with her fingers "We wouldn't want her to die, now would we?"

Shit. Oh, shit, Elisa was in deep trouble now.

"S-She hasn't... That is to say... I-It wasn't her that..." he stammered, his eyes looking everywhere for something to give him an idea, something that would save the stupid red-head that had gotten herself into this for prying like he had told her not to do...

Suddenly, an idea came to mind, an idea so diabolical the Queen would surely not look between the lines of.

Knowing what to do now, he used his acting skills for all they were worth. His face contorted into a sad, disturbed expression, and he sighed raggedly before looking straight at the woman.

"I-I'll do it..." he mock-cringed at his stutter, and he almost yelled in victory at the surprised look on the woman's features.

"You wouldn't have the guts" she said quietly, but a glint of interest appeared in her lilac eyes.

"It wouldn't be any different... than usual..." he muttered quietly, looking to the side "It's not like I've b-become attached to her or anything..."

"Oh?" The amusement in her expression returned full force, but there was still a hint of doubt "Why would you do it when I can accuse her of something?"

"B-Because others have already started liking her... if you just keep executing servants without reason there might be suspicions of conspiracy... If I let that happen I know it would be bad for me in the end" he continued, an invisible smile on his features "This way no one would suspect you, we'll just say that she disappeared. A-After all, she hasn't been here long enough for you to 'hold a grudge' against her"

"Hm..." she thought about it for a minute, but the thoughtful expression quickly turned wicked "I like the way you think sometimes. Fine, you can do it"

He almost made a fist pump at his success, but he stopped short.

"So, when are you going to do it? It should be a moment in which no one would notice you carrying a body around" the Queen thought aloud, already convinced of his plan.

Nobody around, nearby in the timeline...

"The ball" Yakko muttered, almost smirking at how perfect this was turning out "It's in a few days, right? I'll just bribe her into coming with me somewhere without guests..."

"And then she won't know what hit her, huh?" she finished with a smirk "You're not as affected by this as I thought you would be"

He almost gasped at that; had he been discovered?

Thankfully, the Queen only replied with a chuckle "I guess you are becoming accustomed to this"

He wanted to vomit at the false assumption, but he kept himself in place "Y-Yeah... I guess..."

Before the woman could walk away, he said "Though I'll need some help"

"Help? What kind of help?"

"She'll be suspicious. I need you to assure her a little"

The woman smiled a devil smirk, chuckling with grace.

"Hm, I can do that"

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**I told you things were getting bad... Well, hopefully the Queen won't notice that Yakko's lying to her. I mean, you guys didn't really think he was going to kill Elisa, right? Nah, he has a better plan. Though, I wonder... What had Marilyn been talking about that Yakko didn't understand? I made it seem like an unimportant detail, but it is much more important than I make it seem. Maybe we'll find out next chapter. Maybe. **

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter and continue reading! By the way, I read every single review you guys leave, so if you want to say something about the story, or even ask me something that you didn't understand (in that case I will answer it in the next chapter) you can leave a review. Also, I would love if you give me theories of what you think will happen, I love things like those. **

**Hope to see you next chapter! :D **


	5. Chapter 5

**Woo new chapter! I don't really know what to put here anymore, but I appreciate every single one of you who are reading this story. I know, I know, I'm getting repetitive, but I really am grateful to all of you. **

**Anyway, sappiness aside, have the chapter of the week :3**

* * *

It was some time later in the afternoon, I could tell thanks to my silver clock that it was already dark, and I noticed as I cleaned the dry tears from my face that I had probably cried myself to sleep. Slightly ashamed of this fact, I got up from bed and changed quickly back to my work clothes, opening the door once I was finished and walking to the door opposite mine. Maybe I could fix this, mourning over spilt milk wasn't going to do anything, right?

I knocked on the door gently first and waited for the resident to appear but, not obtaining an answer, I knocked harder, listening closely for something to tell me the boy was in there. The hallway was eerily silent, and all I could do was slightly scratch my head, wondering where Yakko could be at this hour.

I was about to walk away when a hand was put on my shoulder. I turned around quietly, thinking that the servant might have spotted me, and I almost had a heart attack at who I saw behind me.

"Well, aren't you up early?" the Queen said sarcastically and regarded me with a small weird smile that made a shiver cross my spine.

Terrified, I could simply stand there and stutter, wishing to the gods that Yakko appeared at that moment and saved me from the woman. However, that did not happen. In fact, Yakko did suddenly appear, walking from the very start of the hallway and stopping right in front of us, but he simply looked to us uninterested and stood there, not moving a muscle.

The royal female and I looked at him for a moment before the woman looked to me again, taking a step backwards and giving me space to breathe.

"So… about what happened earlier today…" she trailed off, my whole body stiffening and barely breathing; she had heard that?!

To my utmost surprise, she smiled sweetly at me and said gently, "Do not think too much of it, I asked him to keep some things from others so he was merely obeying me. Since you seem to have misunderstood the situation, I'll simply say it" she stopped for a minute to speak into my ear, whispering "He's working on a surprise for the ball"

Confused, I looked to her with a curious frown as she walked a step away from me, chuckling so normally I couldn't help but believe her. Though I had my doubts; Yakko's reaction wasn't the way he would have acted if he was caught doing a surprise for a ball. It looked much more serious.

_-Then again, maybe he was afraid of angering the Queen, considering how strict she is... -_ I thought stupidly, shrugging and accepting the excuse. I completely forgot that the woman had killed servants before.

Far more relaxed now, I looked to Yakko, who was barely looking in my direction but also looked pleased, and I replied "Is that so? I'm sorry for intruding on what didn't concern me..."

The queen smiled again and nodded lightly, "Apology accepted" she said, even if I was asking the boy's forgiveness and not hers, I supposed it was good enough for now "Now, I suggest you go and finish preparing the ballroom. The party won't go very well without tables and chairs, don't you think?"

I nodded a bit, remembering said party would be held soon, and started walking away next to Yakko, who looked like he was going to simply follow orders for that day. The woman nodded towards us and walked away in the other direction, moment in which I turned my eyes to the male.

He was smiling slightly now, and I stared at his happy face for a moment before his eyes turned and looked at me "Silly right? I truly thought she was going to kill me if I said anything" he laughed full-heartedly and I followed his example by laughing quietly as well.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was something like that" I replied after we had finished laughing, my expression turning into a frown. Even if he couldn't tell me anything, I would still win his trust if I revealed myself to him, right? "But... if you still want to know about me..."

He stopped abruptly, and I walked two more steps ahead before looking behind me at the boy "Yakko?"

He looked surprised, staring at the ground with wide eyes before looking back at me "Really? But... there's no information I can give you back"

I shook my head, walking slowly to where he was, taking his hand and leading him to my room "It's fine, but... I don't want you to think I don't trust you..."

He looked guiltily to the floor as I opened the door, and I wondered if there was something else he wasn't telling me, but I let it leave my head for the moment. We stepped inside and I closed the door, walking to my bed and sitting on it as I patted the soft seat next to me, which he begrudgingly took.

"...You will probably not believe what I'm about to say, because I still find it pretty hard to believe myself" I started, looking at him as if to ask if he was sure he wanted to listen, to which he nodded his head.

"I'll find a way to believe you" he simply replied, although I doubted it.

"Okay... Then, I'll start. I come from a time several years after this one. Like, thirty... or maybe more? Anyway, I was assigned the task of changing events in history that shouldn't have happened, and return the story to it's original way. I was brought here about twenty minutes before I bumped into you, and you were the first person I saw. This normally means that whatever event I'm supposed to change has to do with the individual I first met when I arrive in a new time, so... I think I may have to help you change your future..." I looked back at him with a concerned expression; he looked like a strange mixture between bewildered and confused.

"Um..." he was simply staring at me with wide eyes, blinking as if trying to make sure he wasn't dreaming "What?"

I sighed, thinking of the term people used to refer to beings like me from the top of my head "Basically, I'm a time traveler. I have to change something that happened and I'm sure that you are involved somehow. Therefore, I have to stay with you"

"I... This isn't a fever dream you had, right? This is really what is going on with you?" he inquired quietly, acting as if he was talking to a mentally ill person.

"I knew you wouldn't believe me" I said with frustration, frowning and looking away.

"Well it is a pretty weird idea; it sounds like something right off a book. I need some sort of proof to properly believe it" he reasoned, shrugging.

I thought for a second and recalled something I had to prove it, taking a picture from my sleeve and showing it to him. He simply stared at the picture in surprise and, after checking it was genuine, he looked at me in bewilderment "This... is a color picture of a dinosaur... It's even got native humans and everything..."

I nodded and grinned, taking it from him and waving it in front of his face mockingly "See? I told you it was real"

He rolled his eyes at me in irritation, but he then smiled and looked at me challengingly "Alright, I 'believe' you" he smirked, showing his snarky attitude, and I narrowed my eyes at him. What did he mean by 'believe you' in that tone?

It looked like that was going to be it, but in a second he looked excited as he took back the photo from me "So? What else can you do apart from going through time? Can you become invisible? Maybe fly through the air? How about telepathy, do you have that?"

I looked at him in a deadpan expression, saying dryly "No, none of those things"

"Then what CAN you do?" he looked quite disappointed to find that I wasn't nearly as interesting as he had expected.

"Well... I can tell when the event I need to change is going to happen, approximately-"

"Boring!" he exclaimed, throwing the photograph in the air as he fell on his back on the bed, looking at me with a pout "Seriously, you would think you could do more _exciting_ things"

_- Why is he suddenly a brat? This guy has the weirdest mood swings -_ I thought with an annoyed scowl as he swung his legs back and forth in the air, acting like a child for the first time since I had seen him.

"Well, what about you? What _exciting_ things can _you_ do?" I asked back, folding my arms and raising an eyebrow at him.

He first looked from the corner of his eyes at me, before shrugging and sitting up "I don't exactly have any interesting qualities... Unless you count handling swords and having a sense of direction"

_- Hm, so he can use swords... Maybe I won't need a map with him around - _

"Well, that sounds interesting enough for a servant" I shrugged and laughed as he stuck his tongue out at me.

"I'm much more interesting than you, at least" he finished, smirking deviously as I rolled my eyes at him.

"Sure you are" I said sarcastically, smirking when I received a playful glare from him.

He looked like he was about to argue playfully, but there was suddenly rapid knocking on the door. Our heads snapped in the direction of the noise, and Yakko raised an eyebrow at me in question, to which I shrugged. Who could be looking for me? Unless it was Star or Marilyn...

I stood up and walked to the door with a frown, opening it while the male tilted his head to look around my body, and my eyes widened to what I saw outside. StarDust had come running from outside apparently, because she had a black cloak covering her as she panted, looking panicked. I was about to ask her what had happened to shake her so much, but she beat me to it, putting her cold hands on my shoulders and shaking them with force.

"Ma-Marilyn... she-she got out of the palace-! Have been… searching for hours! Don't know where she is...!" she yelled as her eyes came out of focus, her words sticking together due to her lack of breath.

"Alright, Star, calm down! We'll help you search for her!" I said immediately, afraid that the older girl would have a panic attack.

"Who's 'we'?" Yakko had stood up now and was looking at the scene with a frown and his arms crossed. I looked back at him in surprise; weren't these his friends? Well, scratch that, old friends. He seemed a lot colder with them than with me, and his mood changed almost immediately...

Strange.

* * *

This was just great, he had just managed to get Elisa on his side with little effort, and he was in the process of making her trust him more when suddenly StarDust had to appear. What the red-head had told him was truly bizarre, and he didn't believe it, but right now his mind was on other matters.

_- I thought I told Marilyn to be careful -_ Yakko almost grumbled in his thoughts, remembering the short conversation he had with her when he had gotten out to clear his head.

Yes, she had asked what was up with Elisa, but then she had given him some sort of weird speech about having some clues on what was going on and leaving to do something or another. He had simply told her to be careful, because what else could he do? He couldn't follow her, and didn't have any desire to do so anyway. He thought she would have given her older sister some excuse as to what she was doing, but no, she just had to disappear when things were going good for him.

"What do you mean with 'who's we'? Of course you're going to help us look for her" Elisa said, shooting him a pleading look, to which he simply rolled his eyes.

"It's not my problem. Besides, she knows how to take care of herself. Any bandits will probably run screaming from her fighting skills" he laughed sarcastically, and he noticed that Star was shaking even more at the mere thought of bandits ambushing her 'defenseless' sister. He felt slightly guilty at the comment, but didn't pay it any attention; since when was he supposed to care for these girls?

However, he did understand her panic, to an extent. Her first younger sister had already been executed five years prior, and now her second was who knows where. Kind of a bad situation for a stressed teen.

_- But she has no reason to act like this -_ he thought sourly _- She should be out there looking for her, doing whatever she can to help her, but no, she's here expecting __**us**__ to help __**her**__ -_

"Yakko, don't say things like that. It's cruel" the red-head replied at his earlier comment, giving him a disapproving look that he simply brushed off. True, this was probably going to loose him some brownie points with Elisa, but he couldn't waste time looking for Marilyn.

"Cruel? Yeah, right..." he said, mumbling afterwards "You should see what the queen does when you disobey orders..."

He could tell the way Elisa narrowed her eyes at him was in suspicion. He could almost hear her thoughts saying "what are you getting at?"

Unfortunately, StarDust was there too, and she knew far more than the other girl did. The blond pushed the red head out of the way and ran to where he was, putting her hands together in a beg.

"Please, Yakko... PLEASE! I.. I know you're not allowed out but- You know how to direct yourself better than anyone and-! She's my sister! I can't... I can't let anything happen to her..." she fell to her knees as she sobbed, the tears escaping her eyes freely while the boy in front of her was now frowning like she had said something terribly offending.

She should keep her mouth shut! God, she was revealing more stuff with Elisa right there! When he turned to look at her, he saw her looking at the scene in bewilderment, as if wondering why on Earth he wasn't allowed out of the castle.

_- Not even I know exactly, so don't ask -_ he thought, hoping for her to be even a little bit telepathic so that she heard his message. He snapped out of it quickly though, regarding the blond at his feet again.

"If you know that then you should be aware of why I can't help you" he sighed in annoyance, crouching before taking her shoulders and forcing her to stand up again, where she sniffled and tried to rub away the tears with the back of her sleeves. He, actually feeling like acting like a gentleman, offered her a lace handkerchief from his pocket, which she took and blowed her nose on.

"I-I know but-!"

"I'm sorry Star, but I can't" he replied firmly, standing his ground as the girl stared at him with unbelieving eyes.

It baffled him that it hurt to have her in tears like this as he refused to help; it hurt to know he was the reason for some of her tears. He thought it might be because it reminded him of the day Rose was executed, when StarDust and Marilyn were both crying because of the death of their sister and because of him, since even they knew it was his fault, no matter how much they tried to tell him otherwise.

When he turned his eyes away from the crying blond, he saw the attempted glare in Elisa's eyes, but he could tell she wasn't giving it to him with hatred, because she could probably see the sadness in his eyes, the emotion he was trying to suppress. She could tell he wasn't doing it out of spite, and it also wasn't because he wasn't allowed outside.

_- Marilyn told me not to help -_ he thought to the girls, although he knew they couldn't hear his thoughts _- She wants to do something by herself. She doesn't want to be found -_

StarDust whimpered as Elisa walked to hold her by the shoulders and led her out, but not before shooting a curious glance toward Yakko, who simply shot her a smile, grateful that the redhead had noticed that he had a concrete reason for this.

The boy simply watched them go through the door, following them to the hallway until they turned to the left, taking the route to go to the main door, no doubt to search for the missing blond. With a sigh, he saw them go for a moment until he walked to the room in front of him, his own room.

Once inside with the door closed, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell Marilyn wanted to accomplish. All she had said was something about the neighboring country, of a king that wasn't invited to the party and about black hair. Oh, she mentioned a key too.

_- A key... there are hundreds of possibilities but... -_

He recalled the key the Queen had around her neck, and if he hadn't been a sinner he would have prayed to God for the blond to have found out about his problem, about his desperation.

He could only hope she had found out about his siblings.

* * *

It was already midnight by the time Elisa and StarDust had returned to the castle, both tired from searching and their clothes wet; it had begun raining.

The red-headed girl could only look at her blond companion in sadness and a bit of pity, putting a hand on the other girl's shoulder to get her to stop crying. Star looked up at her, sniffing and rubbing her eyes again to rid herself of her tears before she smiled at the other.

"Thank you for helping me..." she muttered, hiccupping a bit as they walked.

"It's okay..." the other replied quietly "I wasn't of much help anyway..."

"No," she said in turn, smiling at her again "it's not your fault. I'm happy you offered to help anyway"

Elisa stopped walking once they reached her room, looking at StarDust in question.

"Do you want to stay here for the night? I just... don't want you to be lonely..." she said quietly, scratching the back of her neck as the blond chuckled.

"I don't want to bother you but... if it's okay..." Star muttered, taking up the invitation and entering the room first.

Just as Elisa was closing the door with herself inside, she caught sight of Yakko getting out the door to his own room, grumble, and walk through the hallway. At the end of it stood the Queen, who was looking at him with amused lilac eyes as his own tired black ones were contorted in hatred. The moment the black-haired boy reached her, they started walking somewhere.

The redhead simply slipped back inside her room, closing the door in fear of being found out spying, and turned to look at StarDust, who was already on her bed and asleep. She would have chuckled at the sight; she had probably been really tired. Yet she was more curious and at the same time frightened by what she had just seen. Yakko was going somewhere at midnight again, also, he was going with the Queen and his expression told her that he was not going to prepare any surprise.

What on Earth was he doing at this hour then?

* * *

**Elisa told Yakko that she was a time traveler... and he doesn't believe it for even a minute. Silly girl. Anyway, what could Marilyn's plan be? Yakko doesn't seem to know much about it, and both StarDust and Elisa are completely in the dark about the subject. Hm... maybe we'll find out the chapter after the next. Oh... speaking of the next chapter... It's chapter no.6... Oh no I hate the next chapter. It's the last chapter I have ready too. Shit. Oh well, I'll have to finish chapter 7 soon and then... well, it'll become the waiting game for all of you unfortunately :/**

**I still can't get over chapter 6. Heed my words, prepare yourselves for chapter 6. We'll finally see what Yakko is doing in the library. That's why I'm telling you to prepare yourselves. Seriously. There will be tears. Well, at least I know ****_I'll_**** be in tears. My poor baby Yakko; what have I done to you? **

***Coff* Enough moping over next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one! And we'll get answers soon, don't worry.**

**_If you would like to say something or you got confused and want to make a question, don't hesitate to tell me in a review! I also appreciate criticism, but flames are not allowed._**

**See you next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**... Yeah, so we're finally here. Um, I think I should put some warnings before you read this chapter... just in case someone is squeamish about reading about blood, I guess. **

**Warning: Contains blood, swearing and violence as well as the death of some minor characters (they don't really matter but hey). This chapter also questions the sanity of our main character and his state of mind in general (just putting that out there). **

**So basically, if you don't like guilty!psycho Yakko, or blood on your screen don't read this :/**

**Yeah, sorry about that... on with the story! **

* * *

"I thought you would cut back since I'm going to get rid of Elisa soon."

Sitting right in front of the young servant was a bookcase, one he had seen countless times throughout his life in the castle and that he loathed more than the Queen herself. However, the harmless piece of furniture wasn't to blame, exactly; it was more what was hidden behind it that made his skin crawl.

The woman merely looked at him with an uninterested gaze, as she already knew he was going to use this as an excuse, but he would have to give in eventually.

"Does it even matter? It's just one more life. I'm simply getting you warmed up... to make sure you don't chicken out" she smiled darkly, patting his head and only earning a growl from the teen. "Besides, don't think that killing her means you don't have to keep doing this. Do you plan on hurting the rats more than they already are?" she questioned, giving him another wicked smile when his face contorted in anger the moment she referred to his family as 'rats'.

_- I swear that if she keeps calling them that I'm going to… -_

He didn't speak, however; he simply stared at the books lined up before him, not even flinching when the queen pulled one of them outward and the furniture moved to the side, revealing an empty rock stairway that led down. She gestured for him to go inside and he, reluctantly, did so.

It was impossible to talk his way out of this; there were times were the woman let it slide and didn't bother him with it until a few weeks later, though. Perhaps she thought that if he was too exposed to it he would go insane. And she might be right on that account, because every time he had to do this he could feel a small part of his sanity retreating, coldness and anger replacing the empty spot it had left.

"… Too many people annoying you lately? This is the second one in three days…" the boy said quietly as they continued walking down, attempting to keep his anger down. The furniture slid back to its original position a second after they had entered. Normally, he only had to do this once a month, twice if some villagers were irritating the woman, but this was the first time it had been twice in a week, and with so little time in-between. Especially if he was supposed to kill someone a few days after.

"You could say that" she simply replied, not even glancing at the teenager as they continued.

They carried on in silence for a few minutes before the boy felt a question bubble up in his mind, so, with an extremely guilty conscience, he asked "…Who is it this time?"

"A marriage of farmers. Didn't pay the tax for a month now" the woman said, dismissing it as if it was one of those things that simply happened.

At her careless answer, Yakko clenched his fists. _- You don't just kill someone who doesn't pay the tax! Fucking monster… -_ he thought, but quickly put it off his mind; it was useless to fight against her anyway, and he didn't need more stress on himself.

Before long, they stopped in front of a wooden door, and the servant opened it with a face full of disgust. Passing the door was a room full of cells and torture elements, and the boy vaguely recalled he had been here just a few days ago, when he had finished cleaning the ballroom.

It was funny, in a sort of morbid way, how he was more frightened of the torture chamber than the victims themselves. He had been one of them once, and he hadn't felt half of the dread when he had been the victim that he was experiencing right now. No, this time, like many others, he was the monster.

Swallowing in his dry throat, he walked to the table in the middle and could barely choke back a gag at what he was about to do. The boy looked at the woman, still in the margin of the door, and she nodded with a smile that told him 'start being a man'.

_- But I don't want to be a man if this is what they do… -_ he thought as looked at the item, trying not to cringe when he noticed in the faint candle light that it was an axe.

_- Oh please not the axe… I can't even use it correctly to end it quickly… -_ That was probably what she wanted though, to make them, and in consequence he, suffer as much as possible.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to stop himself from passing out, he picked the weapon up, his legs slightly unsteady because of its weight and his own nervousness.

"I thought you'd be completely used to this by now" the queen pointed out "You have been doing it for five years, after all" He simply stared back at her with a look of pure hatred.

"If I did then I'd be even more of a monster than I already consider myself to be."

Yakko turned around, looking to the cage nearest him and walking to it with an uneasy stomach. He slid open the metal-barred door and slipped inside, staring at the man chained to the wall with sadness. The farmer seemed to be in his seventies, and was staring at him with an unreadable expression.

The teenager took a moment to somewhat compose himself before he stuttered a hurt apology "I…" he gulped, "I'm sorry…I'm going to have to… k-kill you now… I'll… try my best so it's as p-painless as possible…" closing his eyes and clenching his fists, he put up the axe high in the air before he heard a very weak laugh, making him open his eyes and lower the weapon slowly.

The man smiled at him and simply said "I have lived a long time, young man. I don't fear death and will gladly accept it. So you should not pity me," the teenager's eyes widened at what he said next "for you are the one to be pitied."

For a moment, the boy was positive his heart had broken. Him, be pitied? He would still be alive when this was over, he would still be able to breathe and eat and run around. And even with his head telling him that, he somehow understood what the man meant. Yes, he would be alive, but not fine. He would have another life on his hands, and he would be one step closer to madness. Life wasn't easy, but death was.

He started breathing heavily, gulping dryly every few breaths and, with hands shaking so much you would think an earthquake was going on inside him, he raised the weapon again.

It didn't even take one swing before the man breathed his last, and the servant only stared at the now peaceful-looking corpse in front of him. He fought the need to cry out happily that not only had he not had to kill him, but he had died at peace, then walked out of the cell with a relieved sigh. The woman at the frame was now looking at him with an expression that bordered on annoyed while looking curious. All the boy did was give her a smile that was anything but happy and say "He died before I could kill him"

The queen huffed, acting as if she had simply lost a game of tag, and motioned with her head to the other two cells "Don't think it's over". The second she said that, it registered, and he looked at her in a terrified stance, which she smirked wickedly at "There are still two more, and they're not old enough for you to be as lucky as you did with the other one."

With hands shaky again, he squeezed the handle of the weapon tightly and walked to the second cage, swallowing his fear and opening the door once more.

Before him was a seemingly asleep woman, who had to be in her forties, and he cautiously walked to her. The first thing that came to mind was to wake her up so he could at least apologize before he did it, but just as he was about to call out to her he understood what the dizziness that suddenly came over him was. He couldn't stand any more guilt. He couldn't talk anymore. It was physically hurting him. So, with a deep breath he brought the weapon up to his head, closing his eyes as tightly as he could, and brought the axe down on the body below him. Hard.

Screams instantly filled the once relatively silent room, and he could barely contain the pain in his face as he brought the metal object over his head again, smearing some of the blood on his hair and hands. With a grunt, he brought the object down harder, the crimson red liquid splashing everywhere and staining his clothes and face, before the screaming stopped, and he heard the final breath come out.

The young servant's vision was already zooming in and out of focus as he walked with trembling feet outside the metal container, breathing as heavily as he could in short gasps so that he didn't vomit or pass out from the experience. Thoughts jumbled up, his whole body reacting negatively to what he was currently doing to his mind, the boy kept his blood-stained hands around the red axe gripped tightly, walking as slowly as he could to the last cage.

He had actually been doing this for a long time. Since... Rose died... he had been doing this. Forced to, by the aristocrat he belonged to. No questioning, just kill them.

Yakko didn't know what he had been expecting when he reached the last cage. Perhaps he thought it would be a brother or sister to the farmer couple, or hell, he would have accepted if it was a close friend that had actually nothing to do with this, but the person he saw... He couldn't take it.

It was a child. She wanted him to murder a completely innocent child that couldn't be older than his own siblings.

It was a girl too, her long brown hair mangled on the floor full of dust and cobwebs. He could tell these people had been locked up for some time; their wrists were a burning scarlet color under the chains, since the skin was completely raw and left the flesh exposed to the air. The thought that they had been trapped, probably starving and dehydrated for who knows how long just so he could come and kill them... It gave him the urge to throw up again.

He had gone through so much throughout those five years, and although the queen had by no means been benevolent with him, she had never ordered him to kill a child.

He was aware he was taking too long, and that the more he thought about it, the more it would hurt, but he couldn't stop staring at this girl, whose big eyes resembled those of his sister in his delusional mind. Her arms were still chained to the wall, so no matter how much she was now kicking and screaming, fighting to get away, there was no hope for her.

Yakko could barely remember when he used to have hope, yet now all that remained was bitterness and reality. Clearly, this was what he was supposed to transmit to this kid right now.

"Mom! Dad! Someone help! I don't want to die!" the girl kept screaming, but eventually they turned into pained hiccups as she started to cry.

"... Your parents are dead" he whispered quietly, his body still shaking, with his head lowered so, hopefully, he couldn't see the girl's eyes widening and tears multiplying.

"... No... No... No! Why!? They were all I had and I had to protect them and-!" Wait a moment... This girl's hysteric rant, it was sounding like-

"I don't want to be alone!"

_"How could you! They're all I have! I'm trying to protect them and... and... I-I don't want to be alone again!"_

His heart was suddenly on fire, his eyes widened as he listened to the girl's desperate cries, begging him to give them back to her, because she couldn't imagine a life without her parents, and she continued crying...

Just like... he had been...

Suddenly, there wasn't a nine year old girl in front of him anymore. What was in front of him was an insecure and lonely boy of barely ten, who had been ripped from the only family he had, who was unfortunate enough to have amnesia and no home, crying desperately and trying to hold onto something, anything, so that he wouldn't break down. Those things which anchored his sanity, being taken one by one... Forced to kill... Forced to hate...

He saw himself begging someone to save him.

A piercing cold feeling entered his body, going all the way from his toes to his brain and entering his heart, making it ice. Suddenly, his eyes weren't wide, frightened or full of regret; they were now half-lidded, hazy, and devoid of all emotion. He couldn't feel an ounce of sympathy toward the child anymore, nor could he feel disgust towards himself for having to kill her... no, _him_. After all, who was this boy to ask for forgiveness, for protection, when he has done nothing to amend his sins? He was stupid, naive, trying to find the 'peaceful' end of the deal that didn't exist. This emotional child, who did his best to keep being the big brother, to keep himself from changing into a monster for the sake of his brother and sister, was the most stupid boy he had ever known.

_He_ was the most stupid being he had ever encountered.

And _he_ needed to die.

_Right now._

The weapon was raised with no hesitation at all, brought down hard on the top of the child's head; the cut in it was so deep it reached the brain and killed the kid instantly.

He found himself actually afraid of his own persona for the first time... because he felt 'he' had died a way too easy death.

With a deep breath, the now blood-soaked teen went out of the last cage, staring at the face of the woman in the room who had an expression of both surprise and amusement.

"This is the first time I've seen you do this with such cold and hatred-filled eyes. You look like a demon... I like it." A cruel chuckle escaped her, her eyes almost spelling the word _success_, and he could feel his cold heart heating up into flames again.

_**- I don't understand you. Why don't you kill her? -**_

The stranger's voice in his mind made his eyes widen, forced him to take a step back, and... actually inspect the axe still in his hands, the axe he had killed an innocent child with. It wouldn't be that bad if he killed another sinner with it, would it?

_**- You've killed hundreds already, and yet you can't end the life of the person making you miserable? You really are pathetic -**_

_- Kill... her? That's right... I can do that. I've had the opportunity all this time... and... -_

His feet were moving by themselves now, taking him over to the table and the woman behind it.

_- Kill her... -_

_**- Yes, kill her -**_

The axe was raised high in the air...

_- Kill her! -_

... and was brought down hard into the wooden table in front of him, marring the already red stained wood with more crimson and making a huge dent in it.

"I swear if you talk to me I'll take that fucking axe and cut your head off." The threat was perfectly valid, his now furious black eyes bearing into her widened lilac ones.

For once, he wanted to end of all this, to say 'hell with my siblings', to take the nearest weapon available and just end himself, because right now the anger toward his younger self had flared up, and he just wanted to _kill him already_.

His brother and sister were in pain, locked up, probably dehydrated and starved, and God knows for how long they have been like that, waiting for him to rescue them, except he didn't know where to find them. Wouldn't it just hurt less if they stopped breathing at last? However, he knew this was just self-satisfaction. The stupid idea that he could get out the easy way and kill himself disappeared immediately when he reasoned that his siblings could still end up suffering whilst he was dead. He wouldn't put it past the Queen to do something of that variety, just to spite his ghost.

No, he couldn't escape from this. He had to carry on as he always did, to keep the last shred of sanity he had and keep himself going. Though, maybe that sanity was gone already and he was just pretending to have it.

_- Okay, Yakko... Breathe in, out; in, out. You are still alive, you are still capable of saving them, no matter how slim the chances. You can't just go insane and kill everyone. You have a job to do, so compose yourself God damn it!-_

With more deep breaths, the young boy passed the still shocked aristocrat and headed to the wooden door, opening it and heading up the stone stairs. Once he got to the back of the bookcase that was blocking the way, he touched around the wall in the dark until he found a switch. With a press of the object, the large furniture moved out of the way so that he could pass.

He looked around vaguely, knowing no one came to the library because most servants didn't know how to read (it was way too early for someone to be there, too), and started walking to the bathroom at the side of the large room. The bathroom had been installed specifically because he couldn't just go out with blood stains all over him, in case someone was walking around the corridors at night and spotted him. He didn't quite get what the whole fuss about that was; the Queen would force him to kill the onlooker at some point anyway.

He replaced his bloody clothes with fresh ones from a cabinet, cleaning his face and hands afterwards and overall making sure that not a drop of blood could be seen on him. Once finished, he turned his eyes to the clock on the wall.

3:30 am.

With a sigh, he opened the door to the corridor, not bothering to check if the Queen had already gotten out of the torture chamber or not, and he quickly walked to his room.

He stopped right in front of the door, looking curiously at Elisa's. She would surely be asleep by now, right? He was expecting her to have slept somewhere near StarDust, because he was sure they hadn't found Marilyn, and the girl must have needed comfort. Deciding to check on them, he opened the door quietly and was rewarded with the red headed girl's bed being used by only one person. The blond girl was sleeping on it.

He froze at the frame; where was Elisa?

"Well haven't you been up until really late?"

Yakko almost jumped at the girl's voice, turning around quickly to see Elisa looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Afraid of waking up StarDust, he closed the door as quietly as he could.

"Yeah, so?" he asked back, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible "I just went to work on the surpri-"

"You can't fool me with that anymore" she countered with a frown "The way you look at her suggests you are doing something against your will"

"Well, it's not like I _want _to make that thing" he coughed, trying to insinuate that he was making something grand "It's annoying, but I have to do it anyway"

"It must be more than just annoying for you to look at the Queen with such hatred" she stated in a whisper, carefully looking around to make sure said woman wasn't nearby.

Yakko was thankful that she wasn't completely oblivious, and he checked around with her for a moment before staring back at the girl. By the look of things, Elisa wasn't as dumb as he'd thought... Okay, that sounded a bit mean, but he had hoped she could be easily deceived. Now he was stuck in this position again, and although she wasn't exactly in danger at the time being, if by the time of the ball the red-head didn't disappear, the Queen would send someone to exterminate the girl herself.

He had to avoid that at any cost.

With a sigh, he looked around again in suspicion, and finally, spoke as quietly as he could to her "Listen, I'll tell you what I'm doing"

Elisa's frown turned into a big smile in a second and she started jumping up and down like an over-excited puppy "Really? I never thought you'd-!"

"Shh!" he chided harshly with a frown, moving quickly to put a hand on top of the loud girl's mouth "Do you want the whole castle to hear you?" When he was positive Elisa would stay quiet, he removed his gloved hand "I'll need you to meet me at the time of the ball. Don't worry about the location, I'll find you."

Her expression turned into one of confusion "Huh? But won't the surprise be revealed by then?"

"No, it's something that will be shown at the very end. You'll have the chance to see it first" he replied with a small smile, watching intently as the girl radiated happiness.

"You'd do that for me?" she asked quietly as she shuffled her feet in embarrassment, a soft blush on her cheeks "I have been bothering you all this time..."

Yakko laughed quietly at her reaction "Nonsense, you haven't been bothering me" _- Actually, you been __**irritating **__me, but I won't say that -_ "Besides, I want to show my hard work to my newest friend"

Elisa just smiled shyly and looked to the door; he supposed it was to avoid his gaze. Geez, girls were so strange... You just praised them a little and they heated up like an oven. Thankfully though, the red-head seemed easily distracted, and with the thought that he was going to show her what he was doing, she completely forgot about her own doubts.

He almost snickered _- What an idiot - _

"T-Thank you... UM- I think I'll go to sleep now. Yeah, that's what I'll do!" the girl mumbled awkwardly, moving around in a daze before she was finally able to open the door to her room, quickly entering and closing the door behind her with a final whisper of "See you around"

With that, he was alone in the hallway again, and he walked slowly to his own room, entering it in complete calm. The ball was in three days, so he'd have at least enough time to think of an excuse for her as to what the surprise was and to prepare everything.

He was obviously not going to kill the girl, but what he was going to do was help her escape. With the right location, time and help, it wouldn't be too much of a chore to help the teen go away to a distant land. Perhaps he would arrange for her to escape to that neighboring country Marilyn had seemed so interested about, and Elisa might find the blond there. Well, it would be kind of a coincidence if that ever happened, but he could dream, right?

He laid on his bed with his arms under his head, sighing in relief for the fact that all this planning was occupying his head and driving away the memory of the screams, blood and tears. Knowing he would get a nightmare if he didn't listen to a certain tune however, he turned his head to look at the writing desk that was near the door, against the wall. The boy stood up and walked to the piece of furniture, picking up the silver watch that was the reason he believed he had parents somewhere. He wound it until a nice melody resounded throughout the room, and he slowly closed his eyes as he walked to his bed again, letting himself fall on it as the music helped him relax.

It was a truly wonderful sound, the one that escaped his pocket watch. It was as familiar as the voice of a mother, or the feeling of breathing the clean air of the outside world. He loved it.

As his ears greedily took in every note the small contraption made, his body instantly started feeling light under the safe hold of the music. He felt free for once, as he always did when he listened to-

Wait. Suddenly a voice was accompanying the sounds, a melodic voice that sang with its whole heart. It was in some strange language, but despite that, he felt he should know the words from memory. After a moment, however, lyrics he did not recognize resounded in his ear.

_~ Search for the music, for it will guide your way_

_Come, look for someone to hear you pray_

_Don't shy away from the light of your home_

_Even if its path is n0t the one you should roam_

_Living in the dark must surely be lonely_

_A hard life is not for soldiers only_

_Leave the sadness and come, hurry back_

_For soon there will be an awful attack ~_

His mind started doing the translation on its own, but the words only ended up confusing him - Home? Where was home? Music would guide the way? What attack was this lady singing about? - Despite all of these questions, he felt he somewhat understood the message; he had to go back to wherever he had come from, and bad things were headed his way. At least, that was how he interpreted it.

When he tried opening his eyes, a white glow blinded his sight, and in place of his room he found himself in a field.

_- I'm... dreaming? -_ He hadn't expected to fall asleep so fast, and he certainly hadn't thought he would have a nice dream for once.

In this odd dream world, he couldn't move. He was stuck in a lying down position, with someone by his side, sitting quietly on their knees. Yakko attempted to turn his head to look at the person's face, but his head was glued to its spot like the rest of his body.

The person laughed, the soft ringing sound echoing comfortably through the air "Don't try to get up; you won't achieve anything by it."

"Who... are you?" he wondered almost quietly, blinking slowly.

The figure (which by its laugh he thought was a young woman) laughed quietly again, and he felt a hand gently petting his head "That's not important. I'm not here to talk about myself. My primary focus is you"

"Why?"

The woman completely ignored his question "Didn't you hear the song? Wasn't it nostalgic?"

"Well, yes, but I still don't understand what the new lyrics mean exactly" he replied with a concentrated frown.

"You'll understand in time" the woman said softly, and her touch started to calm him "You simply must make sure you don't loose sight of yourself in this battle"

"Loose... sight of myself?" he repeated slowly, confusedly but also tiredly. He was already asleep, why was he getting drowsy?

"Yes, it is a surprisingly easy thing to do. You almost did an hour ago"

He froze. Did this person know...?

Yet the way the woman had said that was as if she wasn't reprimanding him, she was simply expressing her concern. She was speaking to him in such a soft voice... such a _familiar_ voice...

The soft sound of a bell interrupted the silence "It appears it's time for me to go" the figure said as the fingers in his hair were removed "I wish I could speak with you for longer..." A sigh reached his ears, and the woman stood up "Well, there's nothing I can do about that"

"Wait!" he yelled, suddenly awake and still unable to move from his place on the grass "You should at least tell me who you are!"

The wind started picking up, and leaves moved in a lazy whirlpool in front of his eyes as the light in the world was becoming so bright he felt blinded. At that moment, the woman stepped in front of him, and he could see the contour of her figure, although the top half of her face was still hidden by the light.

She smiled, waving at him gently "You surely remember me. You're just not trying to, Yakko"

His eyes widened the moment his name was mentioned. His name... said by that gentle voice, and those soft hands that played with his hair when he got upset...

"M... _Mom_...?"

The figure nodded, a smile still on her lips, and she walked away, the light finally dragging him into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Shit, that was intense. Uh, I hope you all don't hate me too much for this ^_^' (_I'M SORRY OKAY) _So... I'm not going to make a summary of this chap... (*still sobbing*) BUT apparently Yakko's mom can get into his dreams Or maybe he's just crazy, I dunno, you decide. **

**Anyway, I already have chapter 7 completed, but I might need a bit more time to work on chapter 8 so, don't be surprised if that comes out a few days after the other friday. But hey, you don't have to worry about that yet, now do you? **

**Hope to see you next chapter! (Hopefully nobody will come to my house to kill me after this)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ugh, I kind of want to change the other chapters a bit... mostly to take the Q's off and put this new line thingy that works better. **

**Anyway, hey, welcome back to Rose dyed blood red, where everyone suffers :D So, I kind of had a shitty week, full of schoolwork, and I didn't have the time I would have wanted to take in order to finish this chapter. If some parts seem rushed blame my school. **

**Here we finally show Wakko and Dot in the present! **

**(audience again): Yaaaaay!**

**Uh, I think I'll need some more time to think about where I'm going with this story... I mean, I have everything pieced together, but having put the three day mark on the ball in last chapter was really stupid of me -_- I'll have to speed things up a bit... so, chapter 8 might not make it to next Friday. I haven't even started writing it, actually :/**

**Sorry for boring you with that, onward onto the chapter! **

* * *

He wondered what their life would have been like if they had never found themselves in the castle. Would they have died out on the cold streets of London? Would they have found a home somewhere else, with a family that loved and accepted them? Maybe they would have lived a happy life together until they dropped dead like everyone else. Yes, the boy pondered on their destiny as he sat on the cold floor of the cell he resided in, accompanied by his sister of one year younger.

They weren't there of their own will. They had been trapped and placed in that underground place for as long as they could remember, with cold air all around them and rats crawling to find food they would never obtain. The children were below the ground in some sort of basement, a ladder connecting the trap door on the ceiling to the ground, and as far as they were concerned, they had no way of escaping. Either the place was too hard to find or no one had even bothered to look for them.

Seven years. They had been in that god forsaken place for seven years without seeing a blink of the outside world. How had they gotten to this point? The Queen had trapped them there for some reason or another. From what Wakko could remember, the woman wanted their brother to do something, and they were the collateral to make sure he did it. The deal was simple: Do this or your family gets hurt. Had that something lasted seven years, though? Why were they still there if it hadn't? He had been thinking of all these doubts and questions for three days straight, and he still didn't have an answer.

"What are you thinking about?" his sister asked for the tenth time that day, and the thirtieth time in that three day stretch. He had kept count because he'd been so bored.

And just like the other thirty times she asked, he replied "I'm just wondering why we're stuck here" It was certainly the shortened version, but his thoughts got glued together to create that question. _-Why are we still here?-_

The girl hummed in thought, looking around for the two cups of water in the corner. Even though not a speck of light shone in the underground room, both children had long gotten used to living in the dark, and had developed a weak version of night vision. As a result, his sister could easily walk to where the wall connected with the bars and take one of the cups, although they shouldn't have been able to see at all. She took it to her lips and sipped just a little bit, just so it would last them the rest of the day.

Another necessary acquirement to their survival in imprisonment was learning to ration their food and water accordingly. They were only given a cup of water and a piece of bread each, and they had learned the hard way that they couldn't expect the guards to give them more than what was given to them, at least not until the day after. The first time, they had eaten their bread and drank their water as breakfast, and when lunch came around they asked for more; the guards simply laughed in their faces and got out of the basement, leaving them hungry and thirsty until the next day. Because of this, they had to make sure their resources lasted the whole day, or else they would end as they had that first day. It was torture, having to drink only a little bit, and eating as little as possible, knowing that otherwise you would pass hunger later. But because of this, they were never full; they were always hungry and thirsty.

They had truly tried to stay positive throughout their life in the dungeon, but that hope that someone would rescue them had evaporated in the air by the third year. They didn't feel they had the right to complain though, after all, they already felt guilty enough that they were only being an inconvenience to their older brother, they weren't about to complain concerning their living accommodations. They knew the oldest Warner was doing his best, but even he couldn't possibly know where they were.

"Wakko..." his sister started in a quiet voice "Do you think brother misses us?"

Oh, it was that question again. The boy sighed almost inwardly, standing up on his white feet (now a dark black thanks to the dirtiness of the cell) so he could walk to where the girl was. With a pat on her head, he smiled "Of course he does, Dot." She shouldn't be doubting their sibling, but after so long without seeing him he could perfectly understand her low spirits "Otherwise we wouldn't still be here"

His sister, smiling back, accepted the explanation and hugged his scrawny frame lightly, to which he wrapped his arms around her own skinny body in return. Although the answer made Dot happy, Wakko wasn't so confident in his words. The last he remembered seeing of his older brother was him reassuring the young boy of two years old that, although they may be separated, he was always looking out of them. Was that really true, though? He found himself guiltily wondering if he could trust his seven year old brother's words. Then again, he must be something like fifteen now, right?

He gulped quietly, trying to keep himself from doubting their brother that was probably the only reason they were alive right now. Wakko couldn't help it though, it had been a long time... Did he still think they were worth it?

_- What are you doing? Stop thinking like that! -_ he thought to himself as he gritted his teeth. He shouldn't be insulting Yakko with those kind of thoughts, especially if they only made him feel worse. He should be thinking hopefully, to believe that things would get better.

_- Yeah -_ he thought with a slightly forced smile as he glanced at his oblivious sister still in his arms, her furry head of black hair nuzzling into his chest _- I have to be positive! Why, at any moment, the door will open and someone will save us! - _he though, his chest puffed a bit as he attempted to keep his good mood.

... But it disappeared a moment later.

_- Please, as if I could believe something like that would happen -_ he sighed with a sad frown.

Suddenly, a few shouts were heard from outside, catching their attention. The exclamations of pain were coming from the guards who usually brought them resources, but they knew those sounds weren't being made because they were about to get more food. The sound of a horse reached their ears barely along with a voice attempting to calm it down.

"Woah. Down, boy. I'm not going to hurt you... wait, what's that under your hooves?" Footsteps were beginning to get louder, and before they knew it, one of the first rays of morning light reached their sore eyes. Because they had gotten so used to the dark, light in its purest form blinded them, and made them unable to see the person that was climbing down the stairs onto the floor of the dungeon.

However, the moment the girl reached the cell, they were able to see her clearly. She was of their species, not surprising since they weren't in human territory, but what was shocking was her familiar features. Her light blond hair swayed around her shoulders, green eyes widening on her face as she stared at them. She was so familiar... Rose..? No, they had been told of her execution five years prior.

Then...?

"Wakko? Dot?" the girl's voice was laced in astonishment, and that was what told him who she was. It was older than the one Wakko remembered, lower in pitch too, but it was definitely...

"Marilyn?"

* * *

So this... this was what Yakko had been hiding from her.

"_Oh, they're just... living with a relative of ours..."_

Relative? Apparently he thought she was stupid enough for him to lie to her face. Wakko and Dot were right here, hidden under a trap door at the stables. Well, it was no wonder Yakko had never found them, as he wasn't allowed outside in the first place.

_- He has been searching for them all this time... -_

She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought something like this was going on. The girl hadn't figured it out on her own though... it had been...

_"Sis...! You have to help me; Yakko is in trouble!"_

_"What? Why?" _

_"His siblings... they were taken away from him and-"_

_"There she is! The girl who stole my jewels! Apprehend her at once!" _

_"Wait! Rose didn't do anything!"_

Marilyn hadn't understood at all at the time, but as the years passed, she had started questioning her sister's words. It was true that she had stopped seeing Wakko and Dot two years prior to her sister's death, but Yakko had simply said they had gone with a relative, so she hadn't questioned it too much. Yet now she knew better; the children had been taken from him by the Queen, hidden here, and used as a collateral so that the boy continued doing what she pleased. Now, the question was what he was doing, but it wasn't the time to think of that.

"Wakko? Dot?" she asked quietly, her thoughts racing as she finally understood Rose's words to her, and still quite dumbfounded at the pair of children that were hugging in front of her.

"Marilyn?" the boy questioned back, his voice as full of disbelief as hers was. It was raspy, as if he didn't get much water, and they were so thin the ragged clothes they were wearing seemed like blankets "How did you find...?"

So they were indeed Wakko and Dot, but there wasn't any time to waste if the Queen had been intending to keep them a secret "It doesn't matter, we have to get you out of here" Marilyn looked left and right until she spotted something shiny that was hanging from the wall- a key.

"I thought the Queen had it..." she mumbled as she quickly walked over, grabbing the object. But of course, the woman had used that as a trap. The key she had around her neck was one to a door in the castle, so obviously, Yakko would have never guessed his siblings would be outside and out of his reach, let alone in the stables.

_- Intelligent bitch -_ she thought with hatred as she unlocked and opened the cell's door, the two children instantly separating and running to hug her instead.

"We never imagined you would be the one to save us!" Dot cried as she let go and smiled widely at her, her pupils going wild in size with the ray of light from outside.

"Yeah, I like being unexpected" Marilyn joked, laughing quietly as she turned to look at the open trap door "I would love to keep talking, but I knocked a couple of guards out cold and more are going to come get us if we don't move fast"

With a nod from both children, she started climbing the ladder as fast as she could, turning to look at the nervous boy and girl still underground.

"Well, come on! You don't want to stay there forever do you?" she asked rhetorically with a frown. She didn't know exactly for how long they had been locked up, but they needed to move quickly. They couldn't have the luxury of dawdling.

"B-But"

"It's been seven years..." Wakko finished his sister's stuttering, turning to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, even though he was scared himself.

_- Seven years?! -_

Alright, she understood they were frightened after being trapped for so long, but they absolutely _had _to go "Okay... Just climb up and grab my hand, okay? I promise I'll protect you" she smiled at them, trying to look convinced. To be honest, she was frightened too, although it was for another reason.

The children shared a scared glance, but despite that, Wakko started climbing. It was a slow climb, but Marilyn could tell he was trying to go as quickly as he could; their muscles had been on inactivity for so long they were too weak to climb the ladder quickly.

Once Wakko reached the very top, he reached his shaky hand for her own, which wrapped around his firmly. Marilyn, with another reassuring smile, took his free hand into her other and pulled on him, forcing his feet onto the ground. She let go slowly and watched as the boy's expression went from terrified to curious. She supposed he wasn't as scared now that he was on ground, but she could tell he was still nervous.

"I need to prepare the horse so we can leave. Think you can get Dot out here while I do, Wak?" she asked gently, grateful for his brave (if shaky) nod.

As the boy occupied himself with giving his climbing sister words of encouragement, the blond walked to where the horse she had tried to calm still was. Quickly, she put a saddle onto it and secured the straps, turning to look at the children quickly enough to see Wakko trying to hoist his sister to the ground as Marilyn had done to him.

"No! I'm scared!"

"There's nothing to be afraid of! I-I'm standing on it, see?"

Her brother's argument didn't seem good enough for Dot to want to let herself be gotten out into the world once again "B-But-!"

Hearing the yells of the oncoming guards already, Marilyn put the bag with provisions on the horse and rushed to the trap door. Although she was moving quickly, she gently moved Wakko out of the way so she could try to take the young girl's hands instead.

"Come on Dot! I know you can do it! You're a brave girl, aren't you?" the blond awaited her half-hearted nod, tears forming in the small girl's eyes "You two have already gone through a lot, but I just need you to do a single more push before you are free. Could you step up for me?"

A few seconds passed as Dot looked at the ground and then at Marilyn's extended hands, the shouting coming closer with every moment. After some thinking, the dark-haired girl nodded with a decided frown, letting her small hands leave the security of the railing and grab onto the older girl's own. With a smile and a nod, the blond finally hoisted her out and put her on the ground.

When her little feet touched the ground, Wakko made haste and moved quickly so he could hold his sister in a hug, letting her inspect the soil she now had under her. The girl seemed to recover quickly once she saw that there really wasn't anything to fear, so, Marilyn turned to the horse and tapped it with her hand.

"We're ready to go" she told them with a smile, which they returned as Dot left her brother's hold "I'll have to warn you though, the track ahead is going to be a dangerous one. Are you ready to face it?" Marilyn finally asked seriously, a frown on her lips. It wasn't like they had a choice anyway; the guards were about to reach them.

The children looked at each other for a second before they turned to her with twin brave smirks.

"We were born ready" they responded in perfect unison.

Smirking back, the older girl easily put the boy and girl on top of the horse before climbing on herself. It wasn't too hard because with them being so thin, they could cuddle together and take up little space on the animal; they practically counted as one person.

The door to the stables opened suddenly, guards with swords attempting to enter as the remaining horses neighed in protest to their sudden entrance. Marilyn lost no time; she quickly turned the horse to the entrance and made it move forward rather quickly for the small space they were in. With their horse stamping quickly onto the door, the guards were forced to move away, although some weren't quick enough and ended up being squashed under the horse's weight. With a laugh, the two children and the teen started speeding away from the castle, but not before the Queen got out of the structure to see what was happening. Upon the sight of the two Warners riding away with the blond, she screeched and yelled at the guards to follow them, but unfortunately for her, none of them knew how to ride horses.

The woman stomped her foot and looked at the retreating three with furious eyes, running back inside so she could call her military, who did know how to ride horses, to find them as quickly as possible.

* * *

_Flames, everything was engulfed in them. It was as if the very Sun had collided with the Earth and had spread its flaming fury everywhere, burning everything in its way. He was running around the place... What was it, really? It was much too big to be a house, but he couldn't quite recall... His dream wouldn't let him think about it though, as a piece of concrete almost fell on him, and he had to throw himself and roll the other way to avoid being crushed. _

_"Mom?! Dad?!" he kept calling his parents, eyes wide as he ran to where his siblings' room was and entering quickly. Trying not to breathe any smoke with his hand over his mouth, he ran through the rather expensive looking room, though he couldn't quite tell among the flames. He reached the bed and the crib that were beside each other, finding his scared toddler brother holding his crying baby sister's hand tightly, and the moment the little boy saw him he jumped out of the bed and ran to him, hugging his leg as the older brother took their sister in his arms. _

_Rocking the baby and whispering soothing words to try to calm her down, Yakko looked around, quickly noticing that the door he had come from was already burning violently. Thankfully, he knew there was a secret door at the other end of the room, so, with a clinging Wakko and a sniffing Dot, the boy ran there and felt around the wall, quickly finding what he had been looking for. When the hidden swich was pressed, the stone wall moved away to reveal a passageway, exactly what he had been searching for. He moved his sister to a more comfortable position in one hand and used his other to take his brother's own hand, trotting as quickly as he could with his much younger siblings in tow. _

_He got to the end of the corridor, where he stopped in front of a door. He kicked it open and got into the dining room, which was also covered in flames, but that wasn't the only danger there. Several guards with red colored uniforms were fighting others with blue uniforms._

_The boy merely stared at the fighting in astonishment, looking around for some sort of exit with frightened eyes. He tried running over to a door, but when he tried opening it, he found it was locked. Turning around in a hurry, he gasped when he saw there was a red suited guard behind them, cornering them to the door. He felt Wakko trying to hide in his pant leg, but it wasn't happening with them being flattened against the wood. Trembling, Yakko held his sister tighter and clenched his hand around his little brother's, sure they were all going to be killed until-_

_"Mama!" Dot squealed as she reached for someone in front of them. The oldest was confused, but he got his answer when a long piece of metal passed through the unsuspecting guard's stomach. Kicking the person to the side, a tall woman with two swords looked at them for a moment, making sure they were fine and then staring at the fallen enemy. _

_"Don't touch my children, Duivel scum" she growled, giving the man one more kick for good measure and turning her worried black eyes to them "Are you all okay? You didn't get hurt right?" _

_Now that he could look at her face, he saw that they looked very much alike. She had black long hair that reached her waist, a few strands tied in small braids to give her hair character, and she was dressed in a ragged violet dress. He thought that the dress had either been ripped in battle, or his badass mom just thought the cloth got in the way of her legs moving freely to kill enemies. _

_The boy was about to tell the woman that they were fine, but before he managed it, another red dressed guard appeared from behind her, trying to slash her with his sword, but the female was an expert, and she intercepted the blow with her own weapon. Again, she stabbed through the man, throwing him away from them._

_"I'm sorry, we really don't have time to chat" she told them as she took a defensive pose in front of them, facing more guards coming their way "Yakko, I need you to get your siblings and yourself out of here. You remember that secret passage I showed you, right?" the woman waited for his reluctant nod "Good. Get out through there and run. Just run with everything you've got" _

_"But Mom, what about y-"_

_"I'll be fine!" she cut him off, already fighting with the men that had gathered around her "Your father will help, so get out of here! We'll find you later!"_

_With a really bad feeling in his stomach, Yakko obeyed, sneaking toward a hole that was only big enough for the three of them, and pushed his sister forward so she would crawl through. The moment he instructed Wakko to follow Dot, he heard a shout. _

_"They're getting away!" _

_Knowing he was pressed for time, his little brother quickly did as he asked, and just as he was entering the hole, a guard picked him up by his neck. He tried kicking him, but his legs weren't that long, and his air supply was being cut short. Thankfully, his mother had noticed, and slashed the man so that he dropped the boy to the floor. He used this opportunity to try getting out, and once he was in the hole, he felt Wakko pulling on his hand to tell him to keep going. Ignoring him for now, he looked back at his fighting mother for one last time, noticing she gave him a smile. _

_He was about to smile back, trying to reassure himself that everything would be fine, but then what e had a feeling would happen ocurred. _

_"Ugh!" _

_A sword pierced through the woman's stomach, and she was suddenly almost immovile, coughing blood. His eyes widened, about to scream, ready to crawl back and aid his mother, but he never got to, because she mouthed 'go' to him before she slipped off the sword and fell to the ground. _

_"Mom!"_

He woke up in his bed with a start, turning his head left and right as he inspected his surroundings only to find that he was back in his room. Yakko noticed that he was still shaking slightly, and that a few tears had gathered in his eyes. He hastily dried them away with his glove-covered hand, looking down on the pocket watch that he had fallen asleep next to, sprawled among the bed sheets, probably caused by his twisting and turning in sleep. The clock read 5:30 am.

He almost muttered a curse for having slept for only about two hours, but his dream caught up to him, and he started analyzing it with a worried face.

He knew that place, it was a castle, and he knew that the woman there was his mother. Was she dead? Was that why she had appeared in his earlier dream? It was a possibility... Then again, why had he been there in the first place? What did it mean to him? And... why had his mother addressed the enemy guard as a Duivel?

_- That's the name of this country... -_

It wasn't just a dream; it had been a memory, one of the many he was fighting to retrieve.

_- I'm getting somewhere -_ he thought with a small triumphant smile. Despite the fact that the memory had left him mortified, he was determined to get them back _- Maybe I'll get them all soon -_

He wondered if he would dream of another memory if he just went back to sleep. It wasn't like he would miss much, after all, since the three day count for the ball started today, he could relax for a bit before he thought about Elisa. Deciding to try sleeping again, he sank back into the bed. The only problem with his plan was that someone was shouting outside. Several people seemed to be, actually.

And was that a horse he had just heard?

"Ugh who the hell is screaming at this hour?" he grunted sleepily as he sat up again to look at the window that was shrouding his room in morning sunlight with a glare of hatred "Nobody is supposed to go to town on a horse or anything..." He had just been getting sleepy again, god damn it.

"What are you waiting for?! GO AFTER THEM!"

Frowning at the screaming voice of the Queen -funny, he didn't really know her name...- he got out of bed and rubbed his eyes, ready to look out the window that went out to the stables when his door opened and slammed against the wall rather violently.

"Hey Yakko are you going to tell me what you've been working on now?" a red spot practically tackled him back onto his bed, the girl's tail swinging happily behind her.

_- Damn it, Elisa - _

"No, I told you I was going to show it to you _later_" he took her shoulders and attempted to get her off him, frustrated "And I was about to see what that commotion outside was all about-"

"Oh, it's nothing important" Elisa laughed as she jumped off and onto the ground, grabbing him along by his arm "You never gave me that tour of the castle! You promised to show me everything" she made puppy eyes at him, tugging his arm gently.

He frowned in suspicion; she didn't usually act like this. Yakko looked her up and down, trying to decipher what was causing her to act differently, and for a second, he thought her eyes flashed black.

_- Black? Like mine? Why on Earth...? -_

He didn't get his answer, Elisa seemed to be in quite a rush and she didn't seem to want to waste time "I'll push you outside if I have to! You already have your clothes on, so we should just get going!" Oh, right, he hadn't changed last night.

Before he could protest, or try to get to the window to see what was going on, the girl literally dragged him by the arm to the door, opening it with her other and shoving him outside.

"Hey, calm down! I'm going, geez" he sighed as he regained his balance, trying not to fall over. The girl closed the door behind her with a pleased smile, skipping over to him and grabbing his hand, talking about all the things they would do. Ignoring her, the boy looked to his right suddenly, where a corner was. He narrowed his eyes... he could have sworn he had seen someone there...

"C'mon Yakko! You're a slowpoke!" Elisa giggled as she got behind him and pushed him forward several times, not all too gently either. He tried telling her not to do that, but she didn't listen and continued shoving him down the hall.

He had been so busy dealing with the redhead that he failed to notice that there had indeed been someone at the corner. That someone was an eighteen-year old man with black eyes, dressed in a long black cloak, to blend with the shadows. His face was hidden by the cloak, but you could tell he was grinning from behind the cloth.

It would be easy breaking that boy's mind; his illusions would do quick work of his sanity.

* * *

Marilyn made sure they had galloped as far away from the Queen as they could before taking a break at a far away village. She had thought several times that they might have been chased, but the suspicious sounds always ended up leaving them behind as they rode into the sunset. Only when it was finally night did the blond decide that they would stop at the closest village in their way to sleep, helping the weak children off the animal and looking around the town.

They walked along the ground with the horse bound to them by its reins, looking around as the children letting small 'ooo's and 'aaa's when they saw something interesting, which in this case was a small dog that was leashed to a log, barking at them with its high pitched voice.

"Isn't it cute?" Dot asked with a small giggle as they passed the fur ball "Of course it's not as cute as me, but it's getting to the number 2 spot"

Wakko, smiling, rolled his eyes "You shouldn't start developping an ego, sis. Yakko already has enough of one for the three of us"

They both laughed at the joke before it died down, and they started looking at the ground in thought and a bit of melancholy.

"Hey, Marilyn?" Wakko started quietly "Did brother ask you to get us?"

The blond was surprised at the question, but she had seen it coming for some time. Should she lie? No, she should just tell the truth. After all, it wasn't like the boy hadn't done everything he could to find them.

"No" she replied, seeing they were quickly approaching the inn "To tell the truth, I kind of found you on accident."

"Accident?" Dot questioned, her head tilted to the right in confusion.

"Yes. I had been planning on taking a horse and fleeing to the neighboring country... I just had a hunch that the place would explain some things... But, suddenly, when the horse moved I saw a trap door under the hay and, well, I wanted to investigate. I hadn't thought you guys would be hidden under there" she said truthfully, shrugging.

"So that's how they covered it up... They built a stable" Wakko mumbled thoughtfully, a hand under his chin in thought "When we were first thrown in there, it was just a hole with a cell. I think they covered it with leaves from the trees nearby so no one would notice, but it was hard to breathe in there. Eventually they made it bigger and deeper, so I guess they needed something more to make sure the door didn't attract attention."

"And with the need of a place to keep the horses for the military it was obvious what they would pick, huh?" Marilyn finished, her tongue clicking against her palate "The woman's smart; she completely fooled Yakko into believing you two were inside the castle"

"What? How?" they both asked with a raised eyebrow, and the girl almost laughed because that mannerism was something their older brother always did.

"She tied a key of a room in the castle and put it on as a necklace. Though, even if he knew she had been lying to him, he wouldn't have been able to find you anyway, since the Queen never let him go outside" she stopped talking when the children looked away with identical frowns on their faces, muttering something that sounded like they were cursing the aristocrat.

"So... you finding us was just an accident... He didn't ask you to..." Dot muttered, her ears lowering in depression.

Knowing the children were doubting the older boy, Marilyn quickly said "But he has been searching for you all this time! Actually, my sister told me about this right before she..." she shook her head "Well, you know. She didn't exactly tell me what was going on, but I figured it out because of your brother's strange behavior"

"Stranger than usual?" Wakko joked with a small smile.

"Yeah, stranger than usual" she laughed, ruffling his hair as they continued walking "Even if he was strange to begin with, he started acting really weird by that point, so..."

She trailed off as they finally reached the establishment, walking camly to the young woman that was behind a large desk. She looked to the three of them in interest, adjusting her thin glasses on her muzzle before she asked "Can I help you?"

"Ah, yes. We would like a room for three, please"

As the lady gave them the key to their room and the blond gave her a few gold coins, Marilyn couldn't help but wonder what was going on back at the castle.

_- Things are going to get difficult for Yakko now that Wakko and Dot are gone... -_

Then again, the Queen would probably just pretend she still had them and Yakko would never know. Things wouldn't be much different for the boy if that was the case, right?

For some reason she had a feeling something really bad was about to happen.

* * *

**So a crazy guy is out to break Yakko even ****_more _****than he already is (damn, all you characters are sadists), Wakko and Dot are saved and ride to the mysterious country with Marilyn, and Elisa is acting weird. Does that weird guy have anything to do with the redhead's strange way of acting? Who knows, you'll find out later. **

**Also, Yakko encountered a memory! Let's all be happy for him :3 But what does it mean? Hm, he'll need to dig deep into his mind in order to find them. ****_(Do you guys think his mother is dead? Tell me please, I wanna know what you think)_**

**_If you would like to say something or you got confused and want to make a question, don't hesitate to tell me in a review, or a personal message! I also appreciate criticism, but flames are not allowed._**

**Hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter! **


	8. Author's note

I'm really sorry for posting this after a month of no updates, but I'm going to take a break from writing. School is taking up too much of my time, and until all my exams are done, I won't have much time to write. In addition, writer's block has caught onto me and it won't leave, so until I can continue this story as I want to, I'm not going to be updating. I'm writing this so that you guys know that I'm not abandoning Rose Dyed Blood Red, I'm just not able to write for it right now. Please wait for me until I can continue this story... You can follow it to know when another chapter comes out, but well, if waiting's too much for you that's okay. That's all I wanted to say for now; thanks for putting up with me.


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